The Proposal
by MooseyAvatard
Summary: The war is over and everybody is back to their normal lives. Sokka has gathered the gang at Ba Sing Se with a surprise for Suki. All he has to do is get her from Kyoshi Island, and his master plan will go well. Assuming she says yes.
1. Chapter 1: Sneak Attack

_The war is over and everybody is back to their normal lives. Sokka has gathered the gang at Ba Sing Se with a surprise for Suki. All he has to do is get her from Kyoshi Island, and his master plan will go well. Assuming she says yes. _

Chapter 1: Sneak Attack

A crash outside Suki's home awakened her from her light sleep. She rolled out of her warm bed to investigate. Suki put on her green slippers and grabbed a light robe to cover up.

Once outside, Suki rubbed her eyes to adjust to the pale illumination of the full moon. She stealthily walked around her house, adrenaline coursing through her veins to prepare for danger. She checked behind her house, in the storage shed out back, and in the vegetable garden; Still nothing. She figured she must have been hallucinating and walked slowly back to bed. All of a sudden Sokka came crashing out of the bushes screaming "Sneak attack!" and tackled Suki to the ground.

"Sokka" Suki cried. "I missed you so much!"

"You have no idea how much I missed you" replied Sokka.

"W-wait, what did you come here for?" questioned Suki.

"I'll tell you in the morning." Sokka smiled, and carried Suki back to her house.

"You know I am capable of walking, right?" Suki teased.

"I know, you're just so light and easy to carry. I missed being close to you." He smiled, and set Suki down gently on her bed.

She motioned for Sokka to sit down next to her, and he willingly complied. Suki yawned and stretched, trying to stay awake. The bed was still slightly warm from Suki's body heat.

"Am I keeping you up?" Sokka chuckled, taking Suki into his arms. Sokka was aware that Suki wasn't a touchy-feely person, however he didn't care. Sokka was glad to be able to hold the love of his life, and feel that warm feeling again.

Sokka cradled his girlfriend close to his stomach, and Suki's breathing slowed into a steady rhythm. Sokka pulled back the covers and placed Suki in her bed. He carefully climbed into bed with her as to not disturb her calm sleep. He closed his eyes and his breathing slowed. Sokka had been up for most of the night flying with Appa to get to Suki. He was so excited to see her that he couldn't wait until morning to fly to Kyoshi Island.

XXX

Sokka was the first to wake up, and watched Suki in her peaceful sleep. He thought to himself '_I wonder if this is creepy, watching my girlfriend sleeping? Nah.._'. Sokka propped himself up on one arm and caressed Suki's cheek with the back of his hand. He smiled to himself at the thought of having the most beautiful girlfriend in the world. It didn't matter that his previous love interest had turned into the moon, Sokka knew, to put it into Aang's words; Suki was his "forever girl". Suki breathed in sharply and sat up. She was startled by Sokka's gentle touch, because she wasn't used to being in a bed with someone else.

"I forgot you were here, I-I thought last night was a dream!" Suki said, tripping over her words. Sokka chuckled lightly, and softly kissed Suki on the forehead.

"No, that was all real! You fell asleep in my arms, it was so adorable. Good morning by the way." Sokka said warmly.

Suki didn't take to kindly to being called adorable; she was a warrior, right? She quickly flipped herself on top of Sokka and had him pinned on the ground. Then Suki realized that Sokka was her boyfriend and he was allowed to say those types of things. She dropped heavily on top of his chest, knocking the air out of him and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed happily. It had only been 2 months since the last time she saw the love of her life, but it seemed like years.

"Hey Sokka?" Suki asked.

"Mmm?" He grumbled, twirling her chocolate colored hair in between his fingers.

"You said you would tell me what you came here for in the morning, and well, it's morning!" She laughed excitedly.

"After breakfast, I promise." Sokka smiled, knowing it was making Suki crazy not knowing what was going on.

They stayed there for about 5 minutes, breathing in rhythm with each other, just as if they were sleeping. Then Suki rolled off Sokka back onto her side of the bed and sat up. She rubbed her eyes drowsily and stood up. She was dressed in her underwear, as was Sokka. She tossed him his shirt and pants, and grabbed a skirt for herself. She was decently covered up, at least enough to get some breakfast.

"What are you waiting for lazy bones?" Suki teased.

"I'm just prolonging the time between now and when I tell you what we're doing." He said this with satisfaction, even though he wanted to tell her really bad. However, that would ruin the surprise.

Sokka finished getting dressed and slipped some shoes on. Suki was ready to go, she had already done up her hair, and was impatiently waiting for her boyfriend. He opened the door like a gentleman, and closed it behind them. He held Suki's hand in his, gentle as always.

"Papaya or Mango," Sokka said, offering the two fruits to Suki. She went around him and picked up a mixture of berries instead.

She chuckled as she trotted off, leaving Sokka to pick up the tab.

"Water tribe money ok?" He said, putting 2 copper pieces down on the counter.

"Hey, money's money" Replied the shopkeeper.

"Thanks have a good day!" Sokka waved as he walked away.

Suki had already started munching on the berries when Sokka arrived back at her house. She had blackberry stains on the outside of her mouth. Sokka leaned over for a kiss, but instead, Suki squished a berry on his face.

"Cute." Sokka said sarcastically.

"I know." Suki laughed as she put a berry in his mouth.

They ate their breakfast of berries, and finished getting ready for the day. Sokka used his boomerang to shave his moustache that he was quiet proud that he could grow. Suki washed her face and applied a little bit of makeup. Partway through putting on her makeup, Sokka stopped her.

"Why are you putting on makeup?" Sokka questioned, his eyebrows furrowed in a confused manner.

"Because I want to look good! My boyfriend's here 'ya know."

"Oh come on, you know I think you look beautiful ALL the time." Sokka kissed her lightly. Suki smiled, and kissed him back.

"Thanks, Sokka. However I'm going to put on my makeup and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" She retorted in a joking manner.

"Oh yeah?"

"YEAH!" Suki said, getting right into Sokka's face. At that moment, Sokka stole Suki's makeup and ran out the door, taking off as fast as he could. Suki ran as fast as she could possibly go and finally caught up with him.

"Wow you got faster!"

"Or did you get slower?" Suki said, as she tackled Sokka to the ground. "Just because the war's over doesn't mean I've stopped training." Suki quickly picked up her makeup and started walking back to her house, leaving Sokka on the ground.

Sokka got up quietly and snuck up behind Suki. He scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to the house. He put her down, and she finished putting her makeup on. Suki didn't put on war makeup unless she was training that day. Generally she wore a small amount to define her eyes and features.

"I have to ask you something, and I know it sounds a little bit weird but I just want you to trust me." Sokka said, suddenly very serious.

Concerned, Suki sat down next to him on her bed. "What is it Sokka? Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, nothing's wrong, I- I just want you to come with me to Ba Sing Se." He was hesitant. Sokka's surprise was waiting for Suki in Ba sing Se, and he didn't want to give anything away. She sat there silently for a moment, and Sokka's heart started pounding; he thought his whole plan was falling apart.

"I'll bring you back, I mean it's only for" Sokka was cut off.

"Of course I'll go with you! You talk too much." Suki smiled and passionately kissed Sokka, and he kissed her back. Sokka wrapped his arms around Suki's small waist and pulled them closer together. The kiss lasted for at least a minute. Suki pulled back to breathe, and left to tell the people of Kyoshi where she was going.

Sokka started to pack up Suki's things, and put them on Appa. He got some snacks for the trip, in case he or Suki got hungry mid-flight, and then went down on the beach to wait for his girlfriend.

Suki went to the Kyoshi Warriors first and announced, "I'm going to Ba Sing Se with Sokka. He won't tell me why, but I should be back in a few weeks, maybe a month or two." Ty Lee ran up to Suki and hugged her powerfully.

"I'll miss you Suki! Have fun at Ba Sing Se!" Ty Lee said, perky as ever. The other Kyoshi warriors gathered around Suki, all saying their goodbyes.

"Thanks guys, I'm really going to miss you. However I'm coming back. It's not like I'm going to die or anything!" Suki laughed lightly, as did the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. They had a massive group hug, and Suki walked out the door.

She walked to her house to get some money, and her things only to discover that Sokka had already packed them. She grabbed her stash of coins and locked her door. She wasn't concerned about her house being broken into, seeing as the war was already over. Suki did it only to keep possible animals out. She walked down to the beach where Sokka and Appa were waiting patiently. Appa was munching on some leaves Sokka had found for him.

"Are you ready to go?" Sokka asked as he looked at her lovingly, picking up on Suki's slight sadness. He gently took her hand, and waited for a reply.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied heavily. Sokka helped her up onto Appa's saddle, and took the reins to guide Appa.

"Appa, yip yip" Sokka yelled, and the happy couple were on their way to Ba Sing Se. 


	2. Chapter 2: Traveling to Ba Sing Se I

Chapter 2: Traveling to Ba Sing Se: part 1

_Suki and Sokka had just taken off on Appa and it was a few hours into their flight. They were to have 5 days in their trip, and encounter many old friends along the way. [This chapter is mainly here to set up the rest of the story. It's pretty boring, but makes the rest of the story work later.] _

Sokka and Suki sat on Appa's giant saddle, as they had many times before. Sokka was sitting next to Suki, with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Nobody needed to steer Appa, for they were only going to Chin Village. Chin Village was the shortest leg of the trip, because Appa had flown a lot the previous day and needed some rest.

Sokka had planned their trip to make the smartest route around the Si Wong Desert. The first day, they would stop in Chin Village. By the end of the second day, they would be in Omashu and King Bumi offered to let them stay in the palace. On the third day, still evading the Si Wong desert, they would stay in the mining village where Katara had met Haru. When the fourth day rolled around, Suki and Sokka will have made it to Gaipan, the logging village that Jet had attempted to flood. Finally after a very long flight from Gaipan, the happy couple would be in Ba Sing Se, ready for Sokka's big surprise.

Suki shivered from the chilled air. Sokka was always concerned with the well-being of the love of his life.

"Are you ok?" Sokka asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just not used to the high altitude and cold air. It's not a big deal." Suki replied warmly.

"I'll be happy to dig out my parka for you." Sokka offered, starting to stand up.

Suki pulled him back down and replied, "I promise, I'm fine. You worry too much."

Skeptical, Sokka sat back down and played with Suki's hair. He missed her soft auburn hair that always fell back into place perfectly. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he smiled. Everything was going to work out perfectly.

Iroh had planned living arrangements for everybody in the flats above the Jasmine Dragon. Zuko and Mai could share Zuko's old bedroom in Iroh's flat. The 2 bedroom flat above Iroh's was vacant, and he had arranged for Suki and Sokka, as well as Aang and Katara to share that one for the month. Toph would sleep in the living room of whomever's flat she liked better.

Sokka smiled at the fact that everybody was going to be there when he surprised Suki with the surprise of her life. He was so satisfied with himself that he planned this entire life changing event out by himself. He prayed to the spirits that she would say yes.

Suki coughed, and startled Sokka out of his deep thoughts. He jumped slightly, and Suki laughed.

"Deep in sarcastic thought?" Suki teased.

"Something like that." Sokka chuckled.

"So what are you dragging me to Ba Sing Se for?" Suki asked, not being able to figure it out.

"I won't tell you what it is, but I'll give you a hint." Sokka said, looking down lovingly at Suki.

"Ok, why can't you just tell me?" Suki said, slightly upset. Suki wasn't one for surprises.

"Because! It's a surprise, and the hint is that I've gathered everybody to watch me ask you the most important question of our lives." This gave Suki a lot to ponder over the next five days; Sokka hoped he hadn't just given everything away.

"Wait, you gathered everybody at Ba Sing Se. Who do you define as everybody?" Suki's mind had been blown. She couldn't fathom what he was going to do, even if it _was_ blatantly obvious.

"Well, I got Zuko and Mai, Aang and Katara, and Toph too. Iroh's going to be there, because- well it's Ba Sing Se and the Jasmine Dragon is pretty much his life." He laughed lightly.

"Wow this must be really important!" Suki said, sounding really dumb. Normally she was sharper than this, but the whole situation was so out of the blue that she was too stunned to really grasp what was going on.

"You have no idea." Sokka replied, still amazed at his master plan. In Sokka's eyes, this was one of the most important days in his life. Other than defeating Fire Lord Ozai, this was going to be the best day of his life.

XXX

Suki had fallen asleep in top of Sokka; her breathing slow and rhythmical. Sokka gently shook Suki to wake her up.

"Hmm?" Suki mumbled, inhaling sharply.

"We're here Suki." Sokka said softly.

"At Ba Sing Se?" Suki said sleepily.

"No. Just at Chin Village." Sokka chuckled, amused by his girlfriend's confusion.

Appa landed in the town's central plaza. The town's leader, Mayor Tong, had seen the giant flying bison a few minutes before they had landed, and he gathered the townspeople to greet the members aboard Appa.

Sokka stood up and helped a rather drowsy Suki up as well. Sokka jumped down, and held out his hand to guide Suki down the back of Appa.

"Where's the Avatar?" Mayor Tong asked loudly, in his ear-piercing voice.

"He's at Ba Sing Se, with the rest of the group. You see, I borrowed Appa from him to get my girlfriend Suki and take her to Ba Sing Se. Would you mind if we stayed here for a night?" Sokka replied, motioning to a stumbling Suki.

"Not at all. You can stay here as long as you need, free of charge!" Mayor Tong exclaimed, happy to see three members of "team avatar".

"Hey Sokka, I'm hungry, and I think Appa is too." Suki grumbled as she rubbed her eyes, still trying to wake herself up.

"I am too! What do you want to eat? Dumplings, more berries?" The ever hungry Sokka said.

"I don't care, just get whatever you want and I'll share with you. Don't forget about Appa's food. Aang wouldn't be too appreciative if you let Appa go hungry." Suki said, rubbing the furry beast's forehead. Appa grunted, agreeing.

"Ok, I'll be right back. Just sit tight." Sokka said, walking to the nearest eating establishment. He thought to himself, _you know, I probably shouldn't have woken her up in the middle of the night. I hope Suki's ok, she seems a little out of it. Probably because I woke her up! Stupid! I know better than anyone how important sleep is. _Sokka felt guilty waking up his girlfriend in the middle of the night. He didn't intend to; he was going to wait until the morning but he got caught up in the bushes behind Suki's house and accidentally woke her up. _Nice going Sokka._ Sokka thought to himself.He was needlessly beating himself up. This was probably because of his own sleep deprivation.

Sokka arrived in the dumpling place and walked up to the counter. "Can I have 14 dumplings for me and my girlfriend to split? Half veggie and half meat please. Also, do you know of anywhere to get some hay? My bison needs some." Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The woman behind the counter replied, "That'll be 3 copper pieces, and we've got some hay in the back alley funny enough. You can have it if you want. We aren't going to use it."

"Thanks!" Sokka replied cheerfully. Suki had given Sokka the money from home to pay for dinner. He pulled 3 copper pieces out of the small fabric bag, and put the bag back in his pocket, patiently waiting for their dinner to be ready.

While Sokka was getting their food, Suki sat next to Appa. She had missed his fluffy fur and warmth. She still wasn't awake, and she had a slight headache. _Oh it's probably nothing. More than likely the sudden altitude change is what did it, _Suki thought to herself. She rubbed her eyes again, and yawned. _I think I'm just tired. That's all. Man, when is Sokka getting back with our food? I'm so hungry!_

A few seconds after the thought, Sokka appeared with a plate of dumplings and two pairs of chopsticks. Appa grunted, smelling the food.

"It's ok Appa; we're going to get you some hay." Sokka said with his mouth full.

"Thanks Sokka. These smell great," She said, popping one in her mouth. "They taste good too!" Suki smiled with her cheeks full of food.

"Mhm!" Sokka agreed, his mouth still filled with dumplings.

After their dinner, Sokka and Suki led Appa to the alley where the woman at the dumpling store said there would be hay. Appa smelled the fresh hay and started stuffing his face. The flying bison ate almost all the hay before he rolled over on his side from being so full. Sokka and Suki knew that he would be safe here, so they went back to the room Mayor Tong had arranged for them.

Sokka took Suki's hand as they walked across the town's main plaza under the moonlit sky. They entered the hotel, and walked upstairs. Sokka opened the door for Suki, he still believed in being a gentleman, even if his girlfriend was a fierce warrior.

Both Suki and Sokka got ready for bed. He tucked her in her side of the bed, and crawled into his side. Sokka got close to Suki, and put his arm protectively around her. The sheets and blankets were much softer than either of them was used to. They were the traditional Earth Kingdom green and beige, as were the pillowcases. Within a few minutes they were both gone from the conscious world.

Thus concludes chapter two of my Sukka story. I do believe I said Suki's hair was chocolate colored in the previous chapter. I know its auburn I was just being dumb and I put chocolate instead. Forgive me, for I'm not going to take it down and correct it, and then repost it. Too much effort. This is my first fanfiction ever, so I hope ya'll are enjoying it. Please leave a review, anything is accepted. I want to know if you are so repulsed by my story that you now want to puke, and what to change if such a thing is true. If there are a few grammar errors, I'm sorry. [Ignore the ones in my commentary haha] I'm going to stop rambling now and work on the next chapter. Adios!


	3. Chapter 3: Traveling to Ba Sing Se II

Chapter 3: Traveling to Ba Sing Se part 2

_Sokka and Suki were on their way to Ba Sing Se. The couple has stayed the night in Chin Village, and will hopefully make it to Omashu to meet King Bumi. After they stay the night in the palace, they will continue on to Senlin Village._

Suki sat straight up in bed; the moon was casting a light through the window onto the bed. She started violently coughing, and accidentally woke Sokka up.

"Is everything ok?" Sokka said drowsily.

Between coughs, Suki was dishonest, "Yes Sokka. Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."

"Ok whatever you say." Sokka mumbled as he rolled back over.

Suki got out of bed to get a drink of water. She stepped lightly across the creaky hardwood floor. There was a table in the corner of the small room with an empty basin, a pitcher of water, and two cups turned upside down. Suki grabbed one of the cups and filled it with water. She sighed happily when she felt the cool liquid relieve the irritation in her throat. Suki set the cup down on the table, and went back to sleep.

XXX

Sokka woke up to a tense girlfriend sleeping next to him. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her face looked scared. Her shoulders were raised and her back arched. Suki was gripping the edge of the blanket so hard, her knuckles were white. Sokka was concerned for his girlfriend, because he had never seen her like this before. Sokka gently shook Suki's shoulder and she gasped, shooting straight upright.

"Suki? What's the matter? Are you feeling ok?" He said with a worried tone in his voice. Sokka wiped the cold sweat off of her forehead and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Um, yeah. I just had a really bad dream. I'll be ok." She replied. What she said was true: it was only a bad dream.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sokka asked, caressing her cheek. He was genuinely concerned for his beloved. It was in his nature to be protective of his family and friends.

Suki pushed his hand away and replied, "No not right now. Maybe later." She stood up and walked over to the table with the basin. She poured some of the water into it and splashed some her face.

_It was only a dream. _She thought to herself. _Fire Lord Ozai is in jail. In the fire nation! He can't get you, or anybody. Just breathe Suki. It's alright. _Suki took a deep breath and faked a smile at Sokka. She got back onto the bed and sat next to the water tribe warrior.

"You would tell me if there was anything wrong, right Suki?" Sokka said, looking into Suki's big blue-green eyes.

"Of course Sokka. It was just a bad dream. It couldn't even happen. I promise." Suki replied warmly. She had calmed herself down, and everything was ok this time. She didn't need to lie to keep Sokka's mind at rest.

"Good. Well I'm hungry, so I am going to go retrieve something to eat." Sokka replied, patting his empty stomach.

"I'll come with you. Just let me grab my shoes and some money." Suki said.

Sokka put on his shirt and pants, and then his shoes. Suki put on her shoes and had some copper pieces in her hand. Sokka opened the door for her and they walked downstairs into the hotel lobby. The woman behind the desk greeted them and recommended that they should try the breakfast dumplings at the restaurant they ate at yesterday.

Neither of the happy couple had any other ideas for food, so they walked over to the dumpling place. Suki thought to herself _Why did I have a bad dream? What's going on with me? I never get bad dreams. Only when I was little and I had a fever, did I ever have bad dreams. I don't have a fever, do I? No. Stop being ridiculous Suki. Suck it up, you're a warrior!_

The two walked into the dumpling restaurant. It smelled sweet, which was odd. The breakfast dumplings were sort of like crepes; they were filled with fruit and were sweet.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" The woman asked.

"Good morning" Sokka replied cheerfully. "Suki and I would like to try some of those breakfast dumplings please."

"Same number as last time?" Asked the employee.

"Yes ma'am." Sokka replied.

"3 copper pieces please." The woman said.

Sokka searched his pockets for money. He freaked out in an ever so Sokka-like manner.

"Where's our money?" He yelled.

Suki laughed as she put 3 copper pieces down on the counter. "Needlessly freaking out this morning, aren't we?" Suki chuckled. She was right; Sokka was more jittery and spazzy than normal. He just wanted everything to work out as planned. It caused him a great deal of stress to have the thought of everything falling to pieces hanging in his mind all day.

Sokka got the dumplings and met Suki outside with Appa. He had had his fill of hay. Suki sat on his back waiting for Sokka.

Sokka carefully walked up Appa's tail and sat down next to Suki. He picked up one of the dumplings with a chopstick and put it in Suki's mouth. Suki returned the favor to Sokka. They took turns feeding each other until the dumplings were gone.

"That was delicious!" Sokka exclaimed.

"You can say that again." Suki smiled at her boyfriend.

"Well we need to get going Suki. We have to make it all the way to Omashu today, and I don't want King Bumi to encase me in Jennomite again." Sokka said, shivering at the thought of the ordeal. Suki laughed slightly and nodded. The two stood up and walked across the plaza back to the hotel. They walked upstairs to their room and began packing.

They hadn't had much time to unpack their belongings, so packing only took a few minutes. Suki grabbed a change of clothes and went behind the opaque screen intended to change behind. She put on a skirt and a shirt not unlike the ones in the fire nation prisons. The only difference was it was green, and not red. She stepped out from behind the screen to discover Sokka changing his pants.

"Suki!" He shrieked.

"Calm down Sokka! It's not that big of a deal." Suki laughed, and shielded her eyes to make her boyfriend feel better. "Feeling self-conscious are we? I mean it's not like I've never seen you naked before." She winked at Sokka and put her dirty clothes in her bag.

"This is true," Sokka replied, suddenly much calmer. "Let me just put my dirty clothes in my bag and I'll be ready to go."

Suki nodded and picked up her bag as she headed for the door. Sokka followed a few moments later. The two walked down the narrow stairs, dragging their things behind them. When they got to the bottom Suki paused. She looked over towards the clerk and said:

"Thanks for your hospitality! It is very much appreciated." She smiled and headed out the door towards Appa. Sokka waved as he shut the door behind them.

Appa was lying nonchalantly in the middle of the plaza. Some of the local children were petting him and feeding him treats. Appa was a patient and tolerant creature, and of course he was willing to put up with a lot to get a treat.

Sokka and Suki put their bags up on top of Appa's saddle. Mayor Tong walked out to bid them farewell.

"Goodbye friends of the Avatar." He said, in his annoying voice.

Sokka and Suki replied at the same time, "Goodbye! Thank you!"

A few moments later they were up in the air, Chine Village was quickly disappearing behind the clouds as the happy couple was on their way to Omashu.

Thus concludes Chapter 3. I hope you are enjoying it, and picking up on my *subtle* foreshadowing haha. This chapter was a bit short, but the next one will surely be much longer. Like twice as long. Please review as I do like to hear what people think of my writing. Thanks a bunch!


	4. Chapter 4: Omashu

Chapter 4: Omashu

_Suki and Sokka have just taken off from Chin village. They are traveling to Omashu to stay at King Bumi's palace for the night. Suki has been having problems, and has been ignoring them. She is also lying to Sokka, telling him that she's fine when she really isn't. _

Sokka was lying down on his back in the middle of Appa's saddle with his head resting on his hands. Suki had her head resting on Sokka's stomach and the two were watching the clouds go by.

Suki sat up and started coughing again. She coughed for several seconds before Sokka sat up.

"Are you alright?" Sokka asked. Suki nodded positively. "Do we need to land or anything?" She nodded negatively.

Suki continued coughing for several minutes; water brought no relief. Finally she stopped long enough to catch her breath.

"Ouch." Was all Suki said.

"Are you going to be ok?" Sokka said, furrowing his eyebrows with concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I don't know what's wrong; I think I might have a cold or something." Suki hated to admit that something was wrong, and she hoped it didn't ruin the surprise.

"WHAT?" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Sokka. I-I just" Suki replied, her voice sounded distraught.

"No. It's fine. I just never thought of you, getting sick. Ever. Because you're Suki, and that means you're perfect." Sokka said. He speech sounding slightly broken.

Suki chuckled, followed by a few more coughs. "I think we're both overreacting. It's just a little cough, or cold, or something minor. I'll get by, because it's not a big deal."

Sounding skeptical, Sokka replied "I guess so, but I have to take extra good care of you now. Let me grab some blankets and stuff." He racked his brain, trying to think of what to do when somebody back home got sick.

Sokka thought to himself: _So, Gran-Gran used to say, wait, what did she say? I forgot. Stupid! I should've listened to Gran-Gran! Something about keeping warm. Well duh, it's the south pole. Drink lots of, tea? No, that's what Iroh would say. Probably water. Let's go with that. _While he was trying to remember what to do, Suki was having another coughing fit and he was scrambling around restlessly.

Suki could taste blood in her mouth, and she wiped some off the side of her lip as well.

"That can't be good." She thought aloud.

Sokka froze. "What can't be good? Suki? Suki!" The concern for his girlfriend was definitely ridiculous. Fortunately Suki had her back turned to him when she coughed up blood.

"It's nothing Sokka. Calm down. I'll be fine. I'm not made of glass, and I'm perfectly capable of fighting off one measly cold." Suki said, lying again.

Sokka grabbed his parka, for he could see his girlfriend was cold. The goose bumps on her arm were a dead giveaway. He bunched up some pants and shirts to make a pillow for Suki.

"Why don't you just get some rest? I want you in tip-top shape for your surprise."

Cooperatively, Suki laid down and Sokka covered her up. She knew it wasn't that serious, but she wanted to put Sokka's mind at rest.

Sokka stood up and went to Appa to steer him in the right direction. He checked his map to make sure they were on track, then went back to sit next to Suki.

Not particularly tired, Suki sat there with her eyes closed thinking to herself. _I'm sure this little thing is a minor illness. I mean, what's a little blood? It's not a big deal right? Right? _Her thoughts became slightly frenzied. She shivered and sneezed once, startling Sokka.

Before he could open his mouth, Suki said sternly, "I'm _fine_. You worry too much. You sound like Katara"

Sokka had nothing clever to retort, so he kept his mouth shut. He leaned against the back of the saddle with one arm resting on the ridge. One of his legs was extended and the other was bent. He had his other arm resting on his bent leg, and his fingers were fiddling with a coin.

Sokka was not known for his patience, however he was known for being the polar opposite of Mai. _You're overreacting Sokka_, _as you always do. She's a warrior man! Suki's probably tougher than you! Just keep it cool, and relax. Everything is going to work out fine. We're going to make it to Ba Sing Se without any problems and everything will work out as planned. Nothing to worry about. _Sokka yawned as he thought about the upcoming week. Within a few minutes he was snoring, as was Suki. Both the warriors were gone to the world.

XXX

Appa groaned loudly trying to alert Sokka that they had made it to Omashu. He sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes. Suki was completely unconscious, and was snoring very loudly.

"Suki?" Sokka said softly as he shook her shoulder lightly.

"Yeah?" Suki replied hazily.

"We're at Omashu. Ok, we'll we're not here quite yet but we will be in about 10 minutes." Sokka replied.

"Ok. Sounds good." Suki yawned as she sat up. She stretched her arms over her head and started coughing again.

Sokka placed his hands on her shoulders protectively when she lowered her arms.

"Do you want to stay in Omashu for an extra day? You don't sound very healthy." Sokka questioned.

"No. I'm fine, I promise." Suki replied between coughs.

"I don't think you are." Sokka countered.

"I know you're concerned for my well-being and all, but I know when I need help and now isn't the time." Suki said, her voice sounded raspy.

Taken aback by the forcefulness of Suki's statement, Sokka sat there with his mouth slightly ajar.

"Oh- ok." Sokka stuttered.

They sat there in silence, as they approached the outer walls of the city. Sokka remembered the adventure through the cave of two lovers.

"Two lovers, forbidden from one another…" Sokka started to sing, and then quickly reprimanded himself by smacking his forehead with much force.

Appa flew towards the entrance to the city. Sokka doubted they needed to talk to the guards to get in, but they weren't above the rules. Appa landed in front of the gate to the city, and Sokka hopped down from Appa's saddle.

"Hello son of Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the third." The guard said, as he addressed Sokka.

"Um, hi." Sokka replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Can I help you?" The guard questioned.

"Yeah, my girlfriend Suki, Appa, and I are all staying the night at King Bumi's Palace. We didn't want to just fly over the walls of the city. I take it that is frowned upon." The water tribe warrior said.

"You are right. We would've shot large boulders at you!" The guard said cheerfully.

"So can we get in?" Sokka questioned.

"Yes. Hold on a second while we open the gates." The two guards bent the massive wall made of earth to make an opening large enough for Appa to pass through.

"Thanks!" Sokka called as they walked through the opening and into the great city of Omashu.

"Wow." Was all Suki managed to squeak out.

The city of Omashu was indeed breathtaking. The massive system of chutes and tunnels were so intricately laid out, it was a work of art in and of itself. King Bumi's palace sat on top of the tallest hill in the center of Omashu.

Sokka decided it was too much effort to walk up to the palace from the entrance to the city, so he hopped on top of Appa and flew to the palace's entrance. The palace wasn't guarded by Dai Li agents as the palace in Ba Sing Se was. The doors were made completely of stone and could only be opened by an earthbender.

"I told you the palace was awesome." Sokka teased playfully.

"No you didn't." Suki laughed lightly, stifling a cough.

"True, but I was going to tell you. And then you fell asleep." Sokka retorted.

Suki and Sokka were always playfully teasing each other. Rarely were they serious, or nice to each other. They had a strange ability to be intimate and sarcastically mean to each other at the same time.

All of a sudden, the massive doors to the palace were opened, revealing King Bumi. He had his usual look of insanity to his aura. He had his weird hat with the antlers on, and his large green robes covered everything but his face.

"Sokka, Suki, So nice to see you!" King Bumi cackled as usual.

"Hey Bumi. I'm starving! Can we get something to eat?" Sokka asked.

"Sokka!" Suki scolded, not amused at Sokka's lack of manners.

"What, I'm hungry. Bumi's a guy, he understands!" Sokka replied defensively; Bumi nodded in agreement.

Suki scoffed, and followed the hungry men. She wasn't hungry, and was having trouble keeping what she had consumed down. Even though she felt miserable, Suki wasn't going to let Sokka know. She knew she was breaking a promise, but it was for the better. Sokka had a tendency to overreact, and she wasn't in any shape to deal with it.

"I've had my chefs prepare a feast for you." Bumi exclaimed. The old man was eccentric, and he carried the trait into everything he did.

Sokka was speechless. His preoccupation with food made him dream of eating all the time. However he had never imagined _this much_. The dining room table was filled with everything Sokka could fathom. He felt like he was going to faint from excitement.

"Oh. My. Spirits." Sokka choked out, and immediately attacked the mountains of food.

Suki stood back, laughing. The laughing turned into a coughing fit. _Please no blood._ She thought to herself. Her hopes were not listened to, as she coughed blood into her hand. She quickly grabbed a napkin from the table to wipe it off, and hoped like hell that nobody saw her. This time her hopes were answered.

The table had food from every nation. Roast duck and Komodo Sausage from the fire nation, platypus eggs from the Earth Kingdom, fruit pies from the air nomads, and several dishes from the water tribes.

Sokka felt like he was in heaven; he tried almost everything on the table except the fire flakes which he remembered were gross. Suki sampled small amounts of each of the nations, hoping she could keep the food down until she could be alone.

Sokka inhaled what seemed to be pounds of food. Suki on the other hand, was quite reserved in her eating. She took the time to properly appreciate the food, instead of consuming everything that was edible in a five foot radius.

Suki would've scolded Sokka for his bad behavior, except Bumi was doing the exact same thing. Flopsie was sitting in the corner of the room hoping for scraps. Every once in a while, Bumi would throw a piece of meat Flopsy's way, and Flopsie quickly grabbed the scrap and ate it with fervor.

After about half an hour, Sokka had completely filled his stomach and esophagus with food. Suki had eaten as much as she figured she could keep down.

"That was _awesome!_" Sokka said, very satisfied and full.

"Yes, Bumi. It was excellent. Thank you very much." Suki replied calmly.

"Not a problem. I'm happy to have my servants do anything you need. You are, after all, friends of the Avatar!" Bumi snorted in his eccentric manner.

He leaned over to one of the servants standing next to him and said, "Please take these two to their room." The servant nodded and motioned for Sokka and Suki to follow him.

"What about Appa?" Sokka asked, he stopped walking to ask Bumi.

"He's been taken care of. No worries." Bumi replied. "Now run along to your room."

Sokka shrugged and followed the servant. Two other servants were carrying their bags, following closely behind the couple. Sokka was holding Suki's hand as they walked to their room. They walked for about 10 minutes, and finally arrived at their room.

This room was much different from the last time they were in Omashu. It had large windows and an on suite bathroom. Suki was relieved about the bathroom. The bed was in the center of the room; it was round and appeared to be extremely soft. The sheets were beige with a light beige square in the center. It looked like an Earth Kingdom coin. The room's view was astounding, for it overlooked the great city.

Sokka ran from the door and body slammed the bed. He sighed happily as the softness of the bed engulfed him.

"This. Is. Awesome!" Sokka exclaimed, his voice muffled by the blankets. He was lying face down, not paying attention to what was going on around him.

Suki decided to body slam him. She didn't care if it made her feel worse, it would be well worth it. She snuck up behind Sokka and practically swan dived onto Sokka.

"Oof." Sokka squeaked. The air had been knocked clean out of his lungs by his loving girlfriend.

"Are you ok?" Suki asked, patting him on the back.

"Yeah, I'm good. He replied in between coughs.

"Geeze, you sound like me!" Suki laughed followed by some loud coughs.

After a few more minutes of sarcastic banter the two were sitting next to each other on the bed overlooking the city. Suki had her knees tucked underneath her and to the side, and was leaning up against Sokka. Sokka had his feet on the floor and was sitting up straight to support Suki. He had his arm around her back with his wrist resting on her shoulder. As usual, he was playing with her hair.

They sat there in silence, enjoying each other's company. It was sunset; the perfect time for sappy romantic moments. Sokka fell back on the bed with a thud, and Suki followed. She rolled on top of him and whispered:

"I have an idea."

"What?" Sokka whispered back.

"Follow me." Suki giggled as the tossed back the sheets. She took Sokka's hand and yanked him with her.

"Let the fun begin." Suki smiled and laughed.

XXX

It was three in the morning. The fun had stopped several hours ago. Suki was sitting on the side of the bed coughing, as usual. Sokka woke up and groggily asked,

"Are you ok? You're cough sounds worse."

Suki didn't answer for she was coughing too hard and frequently to squeak anything out. _Please no blood_ she thought desperately, but to no avail.

Sokka got up from the bed and sat beside Suki. She coughed into her hands. The room was illuminated by a full moon, so Sokka could see relatively clearly. Suki continued to cough blood into her hands, and finally stopped long enough to breathe.

Sokka tried to hold her hands to comfort her. She tried to resist, but he was too quick for her to get away.

"What the…" Sokka said wearily.

"It's nothing." Suki tried to lie, but failed.

"This is definitely _not_ nothing. We need to get you to a doctor or something. I mean you could have pentapox!" Sokka said, his voice had a rising degree of panic as he spoke.

"Sokka, it's really not a big deal. I mean a little bit of blood never hurt anyone."

"No. I think you're wrong on this one." Sokka said forcefully.

"Ok, whatever you say." Suki yawned from exhaustion. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. She rolled onto her back and Sokka tucked her in.

_Well this is just great. _Sokka thought to himself. _Suki's sick and now we have to stay in Omashu. My plan is starting to crumble, and it's probably my fault!_ He walked around to his side of the bed and he tried to fall asleep. With the combination of the fact that Suki was sick and his plan was falling apart, his mind was a raging storm. He doubted he would get to sleep tonight. Nevertheless, Sokka fell into a troubled sleep.

Sokka dreamed about Suki and his plan. They had made it to Ba Sing Se, except one thing: Suki was dead. She died in her sleep a few hours before they arrived at the outer wall. Sokka's plan was ruined, plus he had to explain his dead girlfriend to the rest of the gang.

He sat up suddenly, gasping for air. He panted trying to calm himself down, not unlike Suki at Chin Village. Suki rubbed her eyes; her hands were still covered in dried blood.

"What is it Sokka?" She asked, this time she was the concerned one.

"Just a bad dream." Sokka replied, still breathing heavily.

"Ok, do you want to talk about it?" Suki inquired.

"No not really." Sokka replied, lying back down.

"Ok, whatever you want. Man, this sounds familiar." Suki laughed lightly.

It was early in the morning: The sun was still rising, and most of the city was still asleep. Suki got up to use the bathroom, while Sokka stayed in bed, still trying to calm himself down.

A few minutes later, Suki popped her head out from the corner of the bathroom and said:

"Hey Sokka. I'm going to take a bath. Could you throw me a change of clothes?"

"Yeah no problem, just give me a minute." Sokka replied, he was finally calm.

Suki pulled the divider across the door and filled up the bathtub with water. _This is the life. _Suki said. The palace of Omashu had warm running water, a luxury that she couldn't even fathom at home. She dropped her clothes on the floor and immersed herself in the warm water. Suki closed her eyes and sat in the bathtub without moving. After a few minutes of enjoying the warm water, she decided to actually get clean.

Sokka stood up from the bed. He had loose pants on, but no shirt. Sokka's muscles were defined by the morning light pouring into the room. His hair was down, and looked like a rat's nest.

He walked over to the massive windows through which light poured into the room. The windows went from the floor to the extremely high ceiling. The wall of windows was curved, and the room was shaped like a quarter of a circle. The large door was in the corner of the room, and the bathroom was on the same wall as the door.

Sokka remembered that Suki had asked him to bring her clothes, and quickly went over to her bag. He picked out a short skirt and a shirt that revealed her stomach. Of course he tried to find the most revealing thing in the bag because he loved to look at her defined body.

He walked over to the bathroom and knocked lightly on the wall.

"Can I come in?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"No, just throw the clothes over the divider please." Suki replied, crushing Sokka's perverted hopes.

"Damn." He whispered to himself as he tossed the clothes over the divider. "I wonder what her problem is." Sokka said quietly as he walked back to the windows.

"I heard that!" Suki yelled.

"Why won't you let me come in? It's not like, well you know!" Sokka questioned, turning back around.

"No reason. I just want alone time!" Suki laughed half heartedly. She wasn't hiding anything; she just wanted to be by herself. Suki had been within 5 feet of Sokka for the past few days, and she was enjoying the silence.

"Fine." Sokka muttered as he turned around again.

Instead of going to the windows to watch the city wake up, he got some clothes ready for his bath. He picked out his sleeveless shirt and figured he was going to wear the same pants as he had on now. He walked over to the door and sat down against the wall.

"Do you think we should have the servants wash our clothes?" Sokka called to Suki.

"Don't you think that's taking advantage of their hospitality?" Suki replied.

"No not really, I mean we did save them from the Fire Lord." Sokka said matter-of-factly.

"This is true." Suki agreed. "I just don't want to be the one to ask." She laughed lightly.

"Ok, well I'll ask them. Could you hurry up Suki? You take too long!" Sokka said impatiently.

"Calm down Mr. Impatient-pants." Suki teased. "I'll be out in a minute."

Suki got out of the tub, dripping water everywhere. She grabbed a towel to dry off, and another to dry off her hair. She picked up the outfit Sokka had chosen and scoffed.

"Really?" Suki laughed.

"Yep." Sokka replied, satisfied with himself.

Suki put on the outfit and briefly admired herself in the mirror, mainly checking that everything was put on properly. She pulled back the divider and leaned against the door.

Sokka stood up and kissed Suki on the forehead. "You look awesome." He smiled as he walked into the bathroom.

He filled the tub with water and looked at Suki. "I don't care if you stay in here. I'm not Mr. Sensitive-pants."

"I know. You're Mr. No-pants right now!" She laughed until she started coughing again.

Sokka immersed himself in the hot water and sighed happily. Suki suppressed her coughs to give Sokka piece of mind. She was beginning to think that her mere cough was getting worse. She felt like throwing up and passing out, and her throat felt like she swallowed a whole bowl of fire flakes.

Suki grabbed her makeup bad and started putting on some light makeup. After all, she was at King Bumi's palace.

"You're not going to try to steal it are you?" Suki teased.

"How would I? I have no pants on, and therefore have nowhere to run." Sokka chuckled as he washed his hair.

"Well if you're going to cloud the issue with facts, then I won't even bother!" Suki retorted sarcastically.

The two laughed briefly until Suki started coughing again. She coughed up blood all over her hands, and Sokka quickly came to help her. He was finished bathing and put on his pants as fast as he could.

"Should I go get somebody?" Sokka asked, his hands placed softly on Suki's shoulders.

All she could do was nod 'no'. She continued to cough for at least five minutes, barely pausing long enough to breathe. Her breathing became labored and it sounded like she was wheezing. She stood up in hopes to stop the coughing. Water brought no relief either.

All of a sudden she collapsed into Sokka's arms.

"Suki?" Sokka shrieked frantically.

There was no reply.

****** So this concludes chapter 4. It took me 6 hours to write it. Haha. I hope you are enjoying it still. I'm still debating what happens next, but I've been consulting 'Thepidgeonone' bouncing ideas off her. She recently wrote a Kataang oneshot and I got to choose Suki and Sokka's baby's name in that story. I felt honored lol. I shall try to write and post chapter 5 asap however I still want to make it as good as possible before posting it. You should read her story: The Goddaughter. .net/s/3969747/1/bGoddaughter_b that's the link :) Please review my story as it is very much appreciated, and feel free to give suggestions! Just in case you were wondering, Suki has viral pneumonia. I did the symptom checker on WebMD and it was like "If you're coughing up blood, see a doctor immediately!" I was just like who goes on Web MD when they're coughing up blood. Anyway, on to chapter 5.

Bonzu PipinpadaloxicopolisBonzu PipinpadaloxicopolisBonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis


	5. Chapter 5: Arguing

Chapter 5: Arguing

"Suki?" Sokka shrieked frantically.

There was no response. Sokka picked up Suki and carried her to the bed.

"Somebody help me!" He screamed; his voice very distraught.

Quickly, two servants came running into the massive room. They ran to the bed to find Suki in Sokka's arms lying there, lifeless.

"Go get a doctor, or somebody!" Sokka cried.

He listened to her faint heartbeat and shallow breathing. _Please Suki wake up. _Sokka gave her a light shake, and patted her on the face.

"Suki!" He cried, sounding desperate.

The palace doctor came as quickly as possible.

"What happened?" He asked, very calm.

"I- I don't know. She was coughing, because she- she's been sick with a cold. A-and I just don't know! She was coughing and the she fainted and I carried her over here and now…" Sokka sputtered frantically.

"Just calm down Sokka." The doctor said, still very calm. "She's still breathing right?"

Sokka nodded, still holding his girlfriend tight in his arms.

"Get her into bed and put some rags on her face. She will wake up eventually." The doctor said, standing up from the bed.

"That's it?" Sokka almost screamed.

"I'm afraid so. There's not a whole lot we can do. Just wait and see how it goes." The doctor said, and then exited the room.

Sokka tucked Suki into the bed and went to the bathroom. The servants were standing by, waiting for Sokka's command.

Sokka grabbed some washcloths and wet them in the sink. He quickly ran back to Suki to put the rags on her forehead.

"Do you need anything?" One of the servants asked.

"Can you bring me something to eat?" Sokka replied.

"What would you like?" The servant asked.

"I don't really care. Food is food." Sokka laughed lightly, trying to keep himself from going insane.

"I'll be right back with something." The servant said as she exited the room. The other servant followed.

"Please Suki, wake up. Please!" Sokka begged, while he dabbed the warm cloth on her face.

Suki's mouth twitched. "Suki?" Sokka screeched.

"What?" Suki groaned. "What's going on? Did I miss something?"

"Oh my spirits! Thank heaven you're alive!" Sokka cried, hugging his girlfriend tightly.

"What happened, all I remember was coughing and then everything was black." Suki said wearily, propping herself up on both elbows.

"Yeah, you sort of fell. Luckily I was there to catch you." Sokka said as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you Sokka. Now I think we should get some food and be on our way to Senlin Village. It's already half way through the morning." Suki said, starting to get up.

Sokka lightly grabbed her arm, as to not feel threatening, and said "Suki, you just passed out for a good 10 minutes. You need to stay another day and rest."

She sat on the side of the bed facing away from Sokka. "Sokka we need to get to Ba Sing Se. I don't want to keep people waiting."

"I know, me neither. However I need you to be well when we get there." Sokka said heavily.

"I just want to get to Ba Sing Se. I think we should cut across to the Serpent's pass and fly over into Ba Sing Se. I know it'll be kind of hard on Appa, but we can get there much faster." Suki said, standing up.

"No. You _need_ to rest." Sokka said.

She started walking and collapsed. Sokka leapt up from the bed to grab her. He knelt down next to her to discover she was still conscious.

"Sokka I'm fine!" Suki almost screamed. She pushed herself up and sat on the floor. "Look, I'm just a little weak from being sick. I'm fine to travel. I mean it's not like strenuous activity. Only for Appa."

"Suki you're lying to yourself. It's ok to not be strong all the time!" Sokka yelled back.

The servant walked in with some bread but quickly turned around after hearing the couple arguing.

"No it's not. I'm a Kyoshi warrior! I'm tough all the time. I've had worse and so have you. I'm just going to suck it up and keep going to Ba Sing Se." She had raised her voice to match Sokka's at this point.

"NO! We're staying here, and there's nothing you can do to stop us from staying here." He was in Suki's face yelling at her because he was so frustrated.

"Just STOP!" Suki started to cry. She tried to keep from falling as she stumbled over to the bed. Sokka tried to help her over there, but she pushed him away. "Leave me alone!" She screamed, crying into the pillow.

"Suki, I- I'm sorry. I just, I'm stupid. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you in your face, or at all. Please Suki." Sokka sat down next to Suki on the bed.

"Go away or I'll kick you. I'm going to Ba Sing Se tomorrow morning and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"No Suki, we need to stay here until you're better." Sokka said, trying to not irritate her. Suki kicked him forcefully in the arm. "OUCH!" Sokka yelped, rubbing his arm.

"I told you! Now please go away." Suki's voice was muffled.

Sokka obligingly stood up and went to the corner of the room. He slid his back down the wall and plopped onto the floor.

Suki sobbed into the pillow, and Sokka felt guiltier than he ever had before.

"Why are you still here?" Suki shrieked.

"I want to apologize," Sokka began as he headed for the bed. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk and blew up in your face." He said apologetically as he dodged pillows thrown by the angry Kyoshi warrior.

"I shouldn't be so protective of you, but I can't help it. I have always been the man around the house ever since my dad left for the war. It's just my natural instinct now. I'm sorry Suki. If you're still mad at me and never want to see me again, I understand. I'll take you back to Kyoshi and you won't ever have to see me again." Sokka said, his heart felt like it had sunk further than his stomach and had gone right out his ass.

Suki sat up, laughing lightly. "Ok look. I'm sorry I was such a bitch back to you. I think we both just overreacted."

"So you still want to go with me to Ba Sing Se?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"No." She replied.

"What?" Sokka almost fell backwards.

"I'm just kidding! Of course I want to go with you!" Suki laughed and sniffled.

"You gave me a mini-heart attack Suki!" He said in his ever so Sokka-ish manner.

Suki leaned over to hug Sokka. He hugged her tight, but not so tight as to induce coughing again. She pulled back and smiled at him. He took his thumb and wiped the tears off her face.

"I'm starving!" Suki said as she rubbed her stomach.

"Shall we go get some food?" Sokka said, motioning to the door. He stood up, as did Suki. She took a couple of steps and fell into Sokka.

"On second thought, I'll get some and bring it back to you." Sokka said as he picked up Suki and put her back down on the bed.

"Thanks. Oh, and one more thing. If you EVER tell ANYONE that I was crying I. Will_._ End. You." Suki chuckled.

"I promise I won't tell anybody." Sokka chuckled at his girlfriend's intensity.

"Good." Was all Suki replied.

Sokka left the room to go get some breakfast. It was 11 o-clock but with the morning's events breakfast was postponed. He walked down the hallway to find Bumi just walking around his palace.

"Why hello Sokka!" Bumi exclaimed.

"Hey Bumi. Suki and I are hungry; could we possibly get something to eat? Also, can we spend another night at the palace? I hate to ask, but Suki's not feeling well." Sokka asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure! I don't really care. It keeps the servants busy and when I have company I'm excused from doing kingly duties!" Bumi cackled. Things that Bumi said were generally weird, but this was straightforward.

Sokka was thrown off by the King's straightforwardness. He stuttered "Th-thanks! Should I-I go find some servants, or will you send some to me and Suki?"

"I'll send you some in a minute; tell Suki that I hope she gets better!" Bumi called as he walked away.

Sokka walked back to their room scratching his head in confusion. He entered the bedroom to find Suki perched on top of a mountain of pillows.

"That was weird." Sokka said sounding confused.

"What do you mean?" Suki questioned.

"Bumi was _straightforward._ I mean, has that _ever_ happened before?" He laughed.

Suki laughed. "I don't think it has. What did Bumi say about us staying the night?"

"He said it was fine. He also said he's sending servants in to get food for us." Sokka replied walking down to the bed.

When he sat down on the side of the bed, Suki's pile of pillows toppled over. She landed ungracefully on top of Sokka with her face on the ground.

"Need some help?" Sokka chuckled as he grabbed Suki under the arms like a baby and hoisting her back up onto the bed.

"Thanks Sokka." Suki laughed and gave him a dirty look for toppling the pillows over.

A few moments later, one of Bumi's servants walked in.

"Can I get you two something to eat?"

Sokka turned to Suki, "What do you want?"

"I really want lychee nuts and berries and really sweet stuff!" Suki said with excitement.

"I'll have blubbered seal jerky and some of Suki's berries please."

The servant nodded and bowed slightly as she walked away to retrieve the food.

Sokka moved to the center of the bed and Suki followed. She sat in his lap and her head fit perfectly on his shoulder.

She looked up and said, "Remember when you were telling me about the time when you rode the Omashu mail system?"

"Yeah?" Sokka answered skeptically.

"I say that after we eat, we should do it. I don't care if you carry me there and back, but I want to ride the mail carts!" Suki said excitedly.

"Sounds like a date." Sokka laughed and kissed her on the lips. He thought to himself, _this should be fun_!

So I figured you didn't want me to keep you waiting to figure out whether or not Suki was dead or not. Well obviously she's not. I spent a large portion of my day writing this, and I hope you guys like it. Please review it because I love getting reviews. I don't care if it just says "aww cute!" I still enjoy reviews. I decided to reroute their trip because I wanted to get to Ba Sing Se faster. I shall get to writing chapter 6 now. Thanks for reading it!


	6. Chapter 6: Fun in Omashu

I warn you now; this chapter is slightly inconsistent and really ridiculous. I shouldn't write while I've got obscene amounts of caffeine in my bloodstream. There's too much blood in my caffeine system! XD

Chapter 6: Fun in Omashu

_This will be fun. _Sokka thought to himself.

"So we'll go after we eat?" Suki asked.

"Definitely. You do know how terrifying it is, right?" Sokka said, leaning back slightly.

"I guarantee you I won't be scared. I fell off a Fire Nation war balloon, what could be scarier than that?" Suki said.

Sokka furrowed his eyebrows. That was a memory he didn't like to relive. He felt terrible for not being able to save his girlfriend.

"I know. I'm just saying that I was scared out of my mind." Sokka said in a warning tone.

"I'll be fine. I promise." Suki laughed lightly.

"I've heard _that one_ before." Sokka said sarcastically.

The servant walked in with a tray full of food.

Suki's eyes widened, "Is that egg custard in that tart?" The servant nodded.

"Sweeeet!" Suki squealed. Sokka chuckled at his girlfriend's delight, and the servant did too as she set the tray down on the edge of the bed.

"I didn't know you liked egg custard tarts!" Sokka said playfully.

"Of course I do. You know how much I like sweet things. How the hell could you be my boyfriend for this long and not know that?" Suki asked as she scrunched up her face from confusion.

"I don't know, I guess I- I have no idea really." Sokka laughed as he popped a piece of blubbered seal jerky in his mouth.

"Way to go." Suki teased as she bit into the tart. "This is the best custard tart I have _ever_ eaten. EVER."

She made a series of coos and other happy noises as she ate the custard tart.

"You sound ridiculous." Sokka teased.

"I don't care!" Suki whipped her head around. She was still sitting in Sokka's lap, so her hair flicked him in the face.

She grabbed a handful of lychee nuts and forced one in Sokka's mouth.

"By the way Sokka, I'm not kissing you if your mouth tastes like blubbered seal jerky. I think that stuff tastes really gross." Suki said, half-heartedly serious.

"That _stuff_?" He replied.

"Yeah. It's gross. Like seriously gross. Remember that time when you made me try some and I nearly threw up all over you?"

"I tried really hard to blot that out of my memory. Thank you so very much for repainting that image."

"I managed to miss! I threw up _next to_ you. Not _on_ you!" She laughed as she popped another lychee nut in her mouth.

"This is true." Sokka stated blankly. He finished off the seal jerky and took a lychee nut out of Suki's hand. He started to put it close to her mouth and then quickly put it in his own.

"Psych!" He cackled.

Suki smooshed a blackberry on the side of his face. "HA!" She laughed.

A few minutes later, they finished eating.

"I say we go and have some fun!" Suki said, starting to get up.

"Sounds good, now do you want to try walking, or do you want me to carry you the entire way." Sokka asked, trying to not be overprotective.

"I think I'll try to walk for most of it, but I promise that I won't walk farther than is easy for me." Suki replied.

"That sounds fair. Shall we?" Sokka got up and helped Suki up.

Suki walked a few steps and paused. "I think I'm not going to collapse every five seconds! Awesome!"

Sokka laughed as he took her hand. "Good, I don't want you to be falling like foaming mouth guy all day!"

Suki laughed as she walked slowly towards the door. "I feel like an old person!"

XXX

They got to the top of the mail chute. Sokka helped Suki get into the empty cart made of stone. He stepped in behind her.

"Are you ready?" He leaned forward as he asked Suki.

"Hell yeah!" Suki said excitedly.

They had gotten permission from Bumi to have this little adventure. Sokka nodded towards the mail worker, and they were flying down the hill.

Sokka was sitting in the back of the cart, and Suki was at the front. Sokka had a terrified expression on his face, and Suki looked more excited than Aang when he rode the giant koi. Her hands gripped the edge of the cart so hard her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were open as far as they could go, and she leaned so far forward she would fall out if they stopped suddenly.

On the other hand, Sokka had a terrified look engraved in his face. His mouth was open and he screamed the entire way down. His eyebrows were raised so high they were almost part of his wolf tail. His eyes were open wide, only to make sure he wasn't dead. Suki raised her arms in the air and screamed. Instinctively, Sokka grabbed a hold of her, making sure she wasn't going to fall out.

About 2 minutes had passed and they were half way down the hill. They had passed 2 carts full of cabbages and one cart full of various meats. Sokka still had his arms around Suki, now for his own comfort.

"You can let go of me Sokka. I'm having so much fun!" Suki yelled. Sokka released as they got near the bottom of the hill.

Sokka shut his eyes as they were approaching the last few yards of mail track. They stopped suddenly and Suki went flying. She hit the wall and a few seconds later, laughed maniacally. Sokka opened his eyes ad shrieked, "Suki?"

"Hahaha ouch! Let's go again, let's go again!" Suki said excitedly as she laid on the floor, looking like a pretzel.

Sokka scrambled out of the cart to rescue his girlfriend.

"Oh my spirits Suki! Are you alright?" Sokka said frantically.

"Calm down Sokka, I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than fine!" Suki said sitting up, she cracked her back and neck and winced. "Ok maybe I'm not fine. My rib hurts, but that's fine because I just smacked into the wall!"

"Suki? I think we need to go back to the palace. Crazy adventures aren't for you right now. I think you're a little psycho from the adrenaline rush." Sokka said with a concerned tone.

Suki laughed again. "Weeeeee!" She said as she stood up, spinning around.

"Ok come on crazy, let's go home." Sokka guided Suki with his hands on her shoulders as they started walking back to the palace.

"I'm not crazy! I'm just really happy." Suki sounded drunk, and Sokka decided that adrenaline-rush inducing events were not for Suki anymore.

"Sokka, I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap right here." Suki said, still sounding very drunk. She closed her eyes and fell into Sokka. Luckily, he caught her.

"Ok, this was a phenomenally BAD idea." Sokka said aloud. He picked Suki up and started heading towards the palace. They were almost ¾ of the way to the front gate from the center of the city.

Sokka carried Suki's sleeping body half way up to the palace, and he was exhausted.

"I need a break for a minute." Sokka said to Suki, knowing full well she couldn't hear him.

He sat down with Suki in his lap, and she continued to sleep. He was sitting against a wall in the street that led up to the palace. Carrying Suki uphill wasn't an easy task. Suki woke up from her sleep.

She groaned and said, "Can we go again?" She was much mellower now, except she was still a little loopy.

"No Suki, we're going to go back to the palace and get you checked out. You sure have been through a lot in these past few days." Sokka said, looking down at Suki who was still curled up in his lap.

"Ok, let's go." Suki rolled off Sokka onto the ground.

Sokka grunted as he stood up, his arms and legs sore from carrying Suki. "All right, come on crazy."

Suki staggered up the hill, occasionally bumping into Sokka as she walked. She looked down at her stomach and saw a lovely bruise forming where her ribs hurt.

"Lookee here Sokka!" Suki said loudly as she pointed to her stomach.

Sokka's eyes widened. "Doesn't that _hurt_?" He said, shocked.

Suki poked it, "Hehehe ow. Do I sound crazy to you Sokka?"

"Not at all." Sokka said sarcastically.

10 minutes later, they approached the edge of the palace grounds. The gates were opened for them and they walked to the massive green front doors. The doors were opened and they walked toward their room.

"Weee! It's _really_ echo-y in here!" Suki laughed.

"Ssh! We need to get back to the room, and you need to relax for a few hours." Sokka said, guiding Suki to the room.

One of the servants approached them and asked, "Do you need anything?"

Sokka replied, "We'll need the doctor again and could we get some bread for a snack?"

The servant nodded obligingly, "Right away, Sir."

Sokka and Suki walked to their room and sat down on the bed. Suki picked up a pillow and whacked Sokka with it. She was sitting next to him, and he replied by putting his hand against her forehead and pushing her down onto a pile of pillows.

Suki laid there for a minute, finally calming down from the adrenaline rush.

"Sokka?" She said wearily. "How crazy have I been acting for the past, say, hour and a half?"

"Honestly? You don't want to know, but it was really crazy. It's also weird that all of a sudden you've just snapped out of it." Sokka said confusedly.

"Yeah, man I have a killer headache, and my side _really_ hurts." She looked down to her side to see a large puffy bruise at the bottom of her ribcage.

"How the _hell_ did I get this?" Suki asked, her face squished from confusion.

"That was from when you flew out of the cart when we hit the bottom and smacked into a wall. I think a combination of the adrenaline rush and you're head hitting the wall at mach 5 made you a little bit loopy." Sokka replied laughing lightly.

A few seconds later, the doctor walked in the room.

"You have a dangerous girlfriend Sokka!" He said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well Suki and I were riding the mail carts down to the bottom of the hill, and we stopped suddenly and she flew out and hit the wall and she says her ribs hurt and she's been crazy and yeah…" Sokka practically threw up words at the doctor.

"Let me take a look." The doctor said in a very doctor-ish manner as he slipped on his glasses.

Suki laid back and winced as the doctor prodded her bruise. He looked at her eyes and poked her a couple other places, as doctors do.

"Well all that seems to have happened is a mild concussion and a bumps and bruises. It's amazing that you've managed to escape with only that much damage. It's been known to happen." The doctor nodded and left the room.

"Well that's weird, I don't even remember blacking out!" Suki remarked.

"That's the- did you really just say that?" Sokka said, smacking his forehead.

"What am I going to do with all my bumps and bruises? Will it ruin my surprise?" Suki asked, suddenly very worried.

"No it won't. It'll be just fine. I just have to be much more careful with you. You've been sick, passed out, had a concussion, and you almost died in the span of 48 hours. You are seriously beat up." Sokka smiled and kissed Suki on the cheek.

So I guess that concludes Chapter 6. I know it was a weird chapter, maybe not staying totally true to the characters. I thought, well I don't know what I was thinking. I just couldn't come up with a better idea for another day in Omashu. I mean how boring is sitting in their room right? Yeah, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although I totally understand if you don't. They will be in Ba Sing Se soon enough, probably by chapter 8. Maybe 7. I have no idea yet. I'll see how it goes. I get that this is rather unrealistic, but I don't really care at the moment. It's still for the most part grammatically correct. I've survived many a fantastic fiasco with only a few bumps and bruises, one of which happens to be me hitting the ground after being bucked off a horse, and escaping with a sore arm. This makes the doctor's statement true. I'm going to stop rambling now, and troll the internet.


	7. Chapter 7: To Ba Sing Se

_Sorry for the massive delay on the posting. I was on a cruise and had no way to write/post. I also am being impatient and have decided to cut their trip by a few chapters. It was a lovely vacation for those of you who were wondering, and now I return to writing. Enjoy ^.^_

Chapter 7: To Ba Sing Se

"Suki, wake up!" Sokka whispered as he gently shook her shoulder.

"5 more minutes." Suki mumbled.

Sokka chuckled, "Usually it's me who wants 5 more minutes. Come on, get up. We need to leave soon if we're going to get to Ba Sing Se by tonight."

"We can sleep in the woods, I just want to sleep." Suki said more forcefully.

It was dawn; the sun was rising over the walls of the city. Normally Sokka wasn't one for waking up early, but he needed his beauty sleep as much as Suki.

Sokka was spooning with Suki, but he rolled over and sat on the side of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and he stretched his arms over his head. The stretching was followed by a yawn and Sokka standing up. He walked around to the foot of the bed and quickly ripped the covers off.

"You. _Suck._" Suki said as she sat up. Suki gave Sokka a death stare; he just laughed.

"That's fine, but I am going to suck my way to Ba Sing Se." Sokka laughed at his own joke.

Suki didn't reply; she simply rolled out of bed and stood up. Her hand was covering up her bruised ribs.

"How's the ribcage? Feeling any better?" Sokka inquired.

"Well not much better at all, in fact it's a little worse." Suki lifted her hand to expose a myriad of reds, blues, and purples over a raised section of skin.

Sokka's eye twitched. "That looks really gross." He laughed lightly.

"And it hurts too!" Suki said cheerily. "Along with my head and throat, and pretty much the entire me hurts."

"Do you want to stay another day here?" Sokka asked, temporarily pausing putting on his shirt.

"No, I should be fine. I mean I've had worse. I'm just being a bit of a baby. I did it to myself, and it was well worth it!" Suki laughed lightly.

Sokka's face looked like Chang's when Azula told him they would dominate the world as the fire nation's most fearsome couple.

"Hello? Earth to Sokka!" Suki waved her hand in front of his face.

"How is that well worth it?" Sokka asked, perplexed.

"It was on my top 10 most fun things I've ever done!" Suki laughed as she walked past Sokka to get her clothes. She picked out a loose fitting shirt and a pair of pants. She winced as she bent down to pick them up.

"Are you sure you are ok to travel?" Sokka asked.

"_Yes Sokka_. I will be fine. I know I've lied before, but I have no reason to lie to you now. I understand if you don't believe me, but I will be just fine. Promise." She said as she walked over to him, clothes in hand. She placed her free hand on his chest and stood on her tip toes to seal her promise with a kiss.

Sokka smiled as Suki walked into the bathroom. He always liked getting hugs and kisses from Suki.

Suki washed her face and brushed her hair. She put it up half up half down, but not in the traditional fire nation bun she had worn it in for so long.

Sokka put his hair up in the traditional southern water tribe wolf tail. Since the war had ended he shaved the sides of his head again, no longer looking like a member of the fire nation.

Suki was ready to go at about the same time as Sokka.

"I guess we don't have time for a bath. Crap! We forgot laundry." She said, annoyed.

"Sorry Suki. We'll just have to wash our clothes in Ba Sing Se." Sokka said as he left the room.

Suki shut the divider behind Sokka. "What did I do?" Sokka asked, playing the victim.

"Nothing, I'm just changing my underwear." Suki replied.

"What, I can't see my girlfriend au natural?" Sokka laughed.

"I don't care, but I don't want the whole city of Omashu to be able to. I mean the whole back wall is windows!" Suki explained.

"You do have a good point." Sokka said, convinced.

Suki finished changing a few moments later and pulled back the divider. "Afraid I passed out again?" She laughed, followed by a few coughs. "Aw dammit!" Suki exclaimed.

"What? Do you think you're cough, cold thing has come back?" Sokka asked concernedly.

"Yeah, and I'm pissed. I thought it had magically gone away. Apparently not." Suki said reluctantly.

Sokka approached Suki. He raised his hand to her forehead and checked the temperature. "Well you don't have a fever. You should be fine to travel. Just try not to infect me." Sokka laughed.

Suki took his hand off her forehead and held it in hers. "I know I'm safe to travel, but I have a question."

Sokka raised his eyebrows as if to ask her what her question was.

"How are we going from Omashu to Ba Sing Se in one day?" Suki asked, perplexed.

"Originally we weren't, remember? We were going to stop in the mining village, Senlin village, and Gaipan, but I think that will take too long, and we can just fly over the edge of the desert. If we have to stay the night in the woods, we have supplies, so it shouldn't be a big deal." Sokka said, mapping it out in the air with his hands.

"That was needlessly complicated, but sounds doable." Suki said. "It shouldn't be too strenuous on me because Appa is the one doing the work."

"Good." Sokka replied, going over to kiss Suki on the forehead. "The Serpent's Pass shouldn't be as hard this time around either. Thank Aang for Appa."

Suki sighed a sigh of relief at the thought of not having to go through The Serpent's Pass the hard way. "Shouldn't we be leaving soon? I mean it's only a little past dawn, but it's a long long way to Ba Sing Se."

"And the girls in the city, they look so pretty!" Sokka sang.

Suki gave him a dirty look.

"You'll be there too! I won't look at any other girls; I'll be blind like Toph." Sokka teased.

Suki laughed and moved from the doorway where they had been standing, to her bag. She put the dirty clothes that she had been holding into the bag. She winced when she bent down and again as she stood up with the bag slung over her shoulder.

"Need me to carry your bag?" Sokka offered, holding out his hand.

"No thanks, I'll be fine." Suki replied.

The two waved goodbye to their lovely room, and walked down the hall into the great foyer. Bumi, Appa, and several servants were waiting there for them.

"I have had my servants pack food supplies for the next 2 days, just in case you have to land and stay the night. I wish you luck and safe traveling on your way to Ba Sing Se." Bumi said flatly.

"Thank you very much for your hospitality Bumi. It is appreciated greatly." Suki replied, handing her bag to one of the servants.

"Yes, thank you, everything was wonderful and we couldn't have asked for anything better." Sokka said, also handing his bag to a servant.

"Old people like company, so it was fun for me too! Even though I only saw you a couple of times throughout the past few days, I still enjoyed your company." Bumi said in his unique manner.

"Well we best be on our way, we do have an extremely long way to go." Sokka said as he helped Suki onto Appa.

Bumi nodded understandingly and opened the massive doors for them to leave. Suki and Sokka waved goodbye and thanked everybody again as Appa walked out the doors. Appa took a few steps and they were soaring their way to Ba Sing Se.

Yay finally finished chapter 7. I had done most of it before leaving for my cruise. In case you wanted to know I went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. I had loads of fun and I highly recommend cruising for your next vacation. I decided to write a sequel to this story and I hope all of you read it. I haven't even started working on it so don't get too excited ^.^. It's cool, I'm excited for it too! Wow, I'm lame. So anyway, I'm going to watch Glee now. Adios!


	8. Chapter 8: Ba Sing Se

Chapter 8: Ba Sing Se

Appa was soaring away from Omashu mere seconds after taking off from the palace. Suki and Sokka had enough food supplies for two days plus camping materials. Bumi had had the servants pack all the things they could possibly need in case of any trouble.

Sokka was once again leaning up against the back of the saddle. Suki was lying under his arm, her body's contours fitting perfectly into his. Suki's right hand was placed over her ribs and her other hand was on Sokka's thigh. She drummed her fingers lightly, trying to amuse herself.

"Bored?" Sokka asked, holding Suki's restless hand with the hand that wasn't around her shoulder.

"Just a bit. We have a long way to go, and there's not a whole lot to do." Suki replied, yawning.

"Yeah we do. Anything I can do to make your trip more enjoyable miss?" Sokka said playfully.

"Well my back is pretty sore, would you mind giving me a massage?" Suki asked, slightly ashamed of her greediness.

Sokka sensed her slight guilt. It wasn't enough to make her not want the massage; she just generally wasn't one for asking favors.

"You got it. Just hold on a second." Sokka replied, moving across to the bedrolls. He laid one out for Suki to lie on. He sat on his knees and patted the cushiony sleeping bag, notifying Suki to lie down.

Suki complied and crawled her way over to the sleeping bag. She gently lowered herself onto the cushion, so as to not cause herself pain. Sokka waited for Suki to situate herself into a comfortable position, which she achieved a few seconds later.

"Now what hurts?" Sokka asked sympathetically.

"Everything." Suki replied, her voice muffled by the fabric that was surrounding her face.

Sokka began with her back. Suki's muscles were tense and achy; every move she made caused her at least a small amount of pain. Sokka's strong hands attempted to work out the tension down her back. He pressed his thumbs and knuckles into her back and moved them around in such a way that relieved the pain without causing more. He was very careful around her rib cage; the last thing he wanted to do was cause Suki pain.

"This feels so good Sokka. I can't thank you enough." Suki cooed.

"I have a way you can repay me." Sokka said mischievously.

"How's that?" Suki inquired.

"You'll see, just wait till we get to Ba Sing Se. All you have to do is say one little word." Sokka smiled at his clever hinting.

"Ok?" Suki replied skeptically.

Sokka continued to work out the tension in Suki's back for about 5 more minutes. He then moved to her arms and hands, followed by her legs and feet. Sokka was a good masseuse, one of his many hidden talents.

Sokka completed Suki's massage about 20 minutes after he began. Suki sighed happily when he finished and lied down next to her. She rolled over on top of Sokka and kissed him on the lips. She traced the contours of his lips with her tongue, and she could feel him smiling. Sokka kissed her passionately and she returned the favor.

A few seconds later they stopped, and Suki rolled over onto the bedroll. She was lying on her back again, ignoring the pain her ribs were in.

"I have an idea." Suki proposed.

"Let's hear it." Sokka replied.

"Ok, well sometimes the girls and I ask each other questions and we have to answer them truthfully no matter what." Suki said excitedly.

"Sounds like fun." Sokka smirked.

"What's your favorite color?" They both asked at the same time.

"I asked you first!" Suki laughed.

"No I asked you first!" Sokka countered.

"I guess you'll never know then!" Suki cackled.

"Ok you win. Lay off the cactus juice crazy!" Sokka teased Suki's playfulness. "Blue."

"Mine's green." Suki replied. "How cliché, our favorite colors are the same as our nationality."

Sokka shrugged and looked at his outfit. Everything except his brown boots was some shade of blue.

Suki started coughing and sat up suddenly. She made a throaty cough and spit blood over the side of the saddle.

"That was attractive." Suki said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Sokka chuckled. "Are you alright?" He knew if he overreacted to Suki's coughing it would make her uncomfortable and irritated.

"I'm fine, just a little bit dizzy." Suki replied, lying back down.

"My turn I guess." Sokka said, taking Suki's hand. "What is the one thing you wish you could do over?"

Suki opened her mouth but she didn't say anything. "I don't actually know." Suki pondered. "Maybe fighting Azula. Knowing what I know now, I could whoop her ass!" She smiled wickedly and looked at Sokka.

"What is the thing you are most afraid of?" Suki asked, rubbing his hand with her thumb.

"Losing you."

Suki was stunned by his response. "Really? That's so sweet!" Suki scooted closer to Sokka and kissed his cheek. "I would've expected you to say losing boomerang 2.0 or something like that."

Sokka smiled and said warmly, "After losing both Yue and my mom, I just really didn't want to go through the pain of losing you too. You are the most important person in my life and I never ever want to lose you."

Sokka propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Suki.

"What's the matter?" Sokka questioned.

"N-nothing, I just didn't expect you to say that is all. You really caught me off guard!" Suki laughed lightly at her surprise.

"Good." Sokka smiled as he lowered himself back down. "Where do you expect to be 10 years from now?"

"That's a good question. I think I want to be teaching my own children to be little Kyoshi warriors." Suki smiled at the thought of having her own little kids to teach.

"So I take it you want kids then?" Sokka asked excitedly.

"Yes I do. I want 2 kids; one boy one girl. I want one to be named Lin and I haven't decided on what the other name is." Suki replied nostalgically.

"That's interesting." Sokka said, rubbing his chin. "Who gets to name the other one?"

"You I guess." Suki said flatly.

"So you plan on marrying me?" Sokka said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Of course I do!" Suki said, slightly louder than she intended and induced another coughing fit. Fortunately enough for Suki, there was no blood this time.

Sokka smiled when she said 'I do'. He knew his plan was going to be smooth sailing from here on out.

They sat there in silence for a while, staring at the clouds. A few birds flew over their heads and Sokka exclaimed "ENEMY BIRDS!"

Suki started laughing hysterically, ending up causing herself a world of pain. She peeled her shirt up to look at her bruise. It was smaller and less puffy than yesterday, but it hurt about the same.

"Sorry." Sokka grinned sheepishly.

"It's fine Sokka. It's not that big of a deal. I'm not a preachy cry-baby, I'm a warrior. It hurts but so what. A lot of things are going to hurt in my life, but I'm not afraid of them. My main concern right now is that I've developed this really uncomfortable dizzy feeling."

Sokka sat up and looked over at Suki who was still lying on her back. Her knees were bent and her left arm was across her stomach. Her right hand which had been holding Sokka's hand was now underneath her head.

"Do you want me to land Appa? We can take a break and eat a little bit if you want." Sokka offered.

"No thank you. It's only been an hour since we left and you're already thinking about food!" Suki laughed. "I think I just need some water is all."

"Coming right up madam." Sokka replied, crawling over to the bag of supplies. He searched the bag, tossing out fruit, bread, and meat to get to the canteens at the bottom.

Sokka emerged from the bottom of the bag a few seconds later, canteen in hand. The saddle looked like a battlefield of food. Fruit and bread was strewn everywhere, but the meat was stacked nicely in the corner, still wrapped in its protective cloth.

"I see you take care of the meat first, but everything else has no value." Suki teased as Sokka gave her the water.

Suki propped herself up on one elbow and Sokka moved behind her to support her. Suki unplugged her canteen and let the cool water sooth her aching throat. It did nothing to help her dizziness.

"Feel any better?" Sokka asked, putting the canteen back in the bag.

"Not especially. My throat is no longer burning, but I still feel like my world is spinning." Suki said, rubbing her forehead. "I wish I could just be better already! I'm tired of being pathetic!"

"You're not being pathetic. You are still walking around and doing everything for yourself." Sokka said, trying to comfort his girlfriend.

Suki sighed heavily. "But it feels like- I don't know. I just don't feel like myself."

"Long Feng brainwashed you didn't he!" Sokka exclaimed.

Suki laughed. "Yes Sokka. Long Feng brain washed me. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up, it's sweet."

Sokka chuckled, "Hopefully you'll be better in a few days. I mean you aren't coughing nearly as much!"

"You're right. I hope I'm better by the time you give me your surprise!" Suki said excitedly.

"Me too. It would be really awful if I were to…" Sokka cut himself off. "Wow I almost just gave it away!"

"Way to go snoozles." Suki teased.

"Hey! Only Toph can call me that!" Sokka yelled.

"Calm down, I'm only playing." Suki laughed.

"Yeah I know. I just want to mention _Lord of the guys who don't win_." Sokka pointed to Suki and yelled, "HA!"

"Oh yeah?" Suki said mock-offended.

"Bring it!" Sokka exclaimed.

Suki launched herself on top of Sokka. He was on his back and she was straddling him, sitting on her knees about his pelvis. She leaned down to kiss him and he kissed her very passionately. Within a few minutes all of their clothes were casualties on the food battlefield. This was about to be the most affectionate display of their love Appa had ever listened to.

XXX

"Does this mean we're a part of the mile high club?" Sokka asked, breathing heavily.

"I don't know but that was awesome!" Suki replied, also breathing heavily.

"Do you think we should stop for lunch? It's almost noon." Sokka asked, putting on his clothes.

"That lasted for 3 hours?" Suki squeaked, putting on her shirt.

"What can I say, I'm just a pro." Sokka said arrogantly.

Suki scoffed and put on her skirt. "Yeah, actually I am hungry and I need to pee."

Sokka laughed quietly as he walked to the front of the saddle. He sat down on Appa's head and steered him downward. He flew towards and opening in the woods and landed softly.

Suki gathered a few of the food items that had been strewn across Appa's saddle. Appa walked toward a bush and started munching, with Suki and Sokka still on him.

Suki put a piece of cloth out in the middle of the saddle. She ever so carefully arranged fruit, bread, and meat for the two of them.

Sokka had left for a potty break and returned a few minutes later to discover his lunch arranged in a lovely manner.

Suki started eating as soon as Sokka sat down. Bumi had packed fresh rolls and apples for them. He also packed various animal jerky in neat cloth packages.

They ate a quick lunch, barely speaking in between mouthfuls. After lunch, they both drank out of the river nearby and filled up their canteens. Suki took a potty break and they got back on Appa.

Appa took off a few moments later and they were on their way to Ba Sing Se again. They were about a third of the way there, and if Appa flew as fast as he could they would make it there before midnight that night.

Suki cuddled up next to Sokka and fell asleep. Sokka was tired as well and soon fell asleep on top of Suki.

XXX

It was night when Sokka woke up. He sat up and peered over the side of the saddle.

"Suki, we're here! We're in Ba Sing Se!"

All done! Sorry if the last part was rushed but Big Bang Theory is on! So they have finally made it to Ba Sing Se, completely skipping over the serpent's pass. I'm sure you are tired of their traveling and just want them to be in Ba Sing Se. I know I do! So I shall write the next chapter as soon as possible. This one was kind of filler again. Exciting things to come in Ba Sing Se! Thanks again, please comment!


	9. Chapter 9: Finally here

Chapter 9: Finally here

Suki stirred at Sokka's loud noise. She sat up and gasped when she realized it was night. Suki crawled over next to Sokka and peered over the side of Appa's saddle.

They had just passed over the wall into Ba Sing Se. The city itself was beautiful at night; the buildings were illuminated by the candles and lanterns that dotted the streets and windows. Suki and Sokka were mesmerized by the beauty of the greatest city on earth.

"We've finally made it!" Sokka exclaimed. He was so excited that he almost wet himself.

Suki said nothing; she leaned over and kissed him passionately. Appa knew where to go, and he started descending into the upper ring of the city. Suki and Sokka watched the buildings fly underneath them. As they neared the courtyard where The Jasmine Dragon was located, Sokka began to gather up their bags.

"I'm so excited to see everybody!" Suki said with much fervor.

"I know me too!" Sokka replied, showing the same amount of zeal.

Appa was ready to sleep for a long time; he had been flying for 16 hours at least. He almost crash landed in front of The Jasmine Dragon he was so tired.

"They're ba-ack!" Toph said, grinning.

Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko, Mai and Iroh all rushed outside of The Jasmine Dragon. Suki and Sokka walked down Appa's tail onto the white stone ground.

Katara ran at Suki at full speed, and before Sokka could stop her, she tackled Suki to the ground with hugs.

Suki yelped, "Katara! I missed you too, but could you get off?"

Katara stood up, regaining her composure. She held out her hand, and helped Suki up. Toph walked over and punched Suki in the arm.

"It's kind of against my nature to hug people. If I punch you instead of earthbending at you, it's a sign of affection." Toph said in her very distinctive manner.

"Thanks?" Suki said, rubbing her arm.

"Flameo hotman!" Aang said to Sokka, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Good to see you Aang. Thanks again for letting me use Appa." Sokka said, yawning.

Zuko and Mai were standing in the doorway with Iroh. Iroh was holding a tray full of tea, waiting for the greetings to finish.

Aang grabbed Suki's bag and Sokka grabbed his own. Suki and Katara started back into The Jasmine Dragon, Toph following close behind.

"Shall we sit down and discuss your travels?" Iroh said cheerily.

Everyone nodded in agreement, following Iroh inside.

"It's good to see you again." Zuko said to Sokka and Suki. Mai remained silent, but nodded.

"I missed you too Zuko." Sokka said, trying not to make the conversation awkward.

"So what did you guys get up to while you were on your way here?" Katara asked eagerly.

They had barely sat down and Katara was already asking questions. Suki and Sokka were sitting next to each other at the large round table in the middle of the room. Katara sat next to Suki and Aang next to Sokka. Mai and Zuko sat opposite Suki and Sokka, with a space between Mai and Katara for Iroh. Toph was sitting in between Sokka and Zuko.

Iroh finished putting the cups of tea on the table and sat down for their story.

Suki stood up. "We'll for starters I got _this_ in Omashu!" She exposed her bruise to the group.

Everyone gasped at the injury. "Oh my- are you ok?" Katara almost screamed.

"Yeah I'm fine, mostly." Suki laughed, followed by a few coughs.

Katara nodded, in too much shock to speak. Aang looked at Sokka and said, "Riding the mail carts?"

"Mhmm." Sokka said reluctantly.

"That looks awesome!" Toph said. Suki shot her a playful dirty look. "You're dirty looks are wasted on me."

"How did she-? What?" Suki said, confused. The entire group, including Suki and Toph laughed.

"How's Appa?" Aang asked.

"He's tired from the long trip, but he was well cared for. We flew all the way from Omashu today, so he's tired at the moment. Bumi had his servants feed him and bathe him well while we were in Omashu." Sokka said reassuringly.

"That's good to hear." Aang said, sipping his tea.

Suki broke into a coughing fit and coughed up three drops of blood into her hand.

"That is really not good." Katara said with much worry in her voice.

"I'm fine, I promise." Suki assured everyone.

Everyone looked at her skeptically, even Toph. Iroh handed her a napkin to wipe the blood off.

"It's only a little bit of blood, and I'm only a little bit dizzy. I'll be fine I promise." Suki said, sipping her tea.

The conversation had taken a more serious turn, they hadn't really told them much of their travels, however there wasn't very much to tell.

"Maybe you should go for a healing session with Katara tomorrow morning." Sokka suggested, knowing Suki wasn't going to argue with him in front of the group.

"I guess. It won't be any trouble right Katara? If it is, I'm fine without it." Suki tried to get herself out of it.

"I came here for your- surprise." Katara caught herself. "I don't have anything else to do but spend time with you!" Sokka shot her a very brotherly you're-so-dead look.

Zuko and Mai were still quiet, but nobody cared since nobody liked Mai except Zuko. Suki coughed more blood into her napkin, pretending like nothing was wrong.

"What?" Suki asked innocently.

"It's getting worse," Sokka said grimly. "You need to take it easy."

"What, do I have to go to bed now?" Suki teased.

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Mai chimed in. Zuko stood up and pulled out Mai's chair. He put his arm over her shoulder and walked to the back of the room where the stairs were.

"Goodnight everyone!" Zuko said as he ascended the staircase with his gloomy girlfriend.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Suki asked.

"The house right next door. Apparently I didn't do my research because there aren't two flats above The Jasmine Dragon. We are sharing the house next door with Aang, Katara, and Toph. Is that ok?" Sokka explained.

"Yeah, sure. I'm just really tired." Suki said, standing up.

Sokka stood up and pushed in both of their chairs. Suki took a few steps and stumbled. Luckily Sokka caught her before she fell. Not risking another fall, he swept her off her feet and carried her into the house. Aang followed behind to open the doors for them.

Katara and Toph were the only ones left at the table, because Iroh had gone upstairs.

"There's something weird going on." Toph said. "I can't place it, but there's definitely something more to Suki than usual."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, perplexed by Toph's observation.

"I- I don't know. I can't figure it out but there's something up with Suki, not wrong, just _something_." Toph described.

"Ok, whatever you say." Katara chuckled.

"Listen Sugar Queen, I can feel it. Something's up. I'll let you know more when I find out." Toph said, standing up.

Katara didn't have anything to say back to Toph, so she went with Toph to their temporary home.

Suki and Sokka were already in bed; they didn't even bother getting changed.

Toph had her own room, and Aang and Katara shared a bed. Aang was waiting for Katara. He was already ready for bed; he had washed his face and wore his looser pants to bed. He didn't like sleeping with his shirt on when he didn't have to. Katara didn't mind his shirtless-ness either.

"Glad to have the gang back together?" Aang asked as Katara entered the room.

"Yes, like you wouldn't believe. Believe it or not, I really missed the constant tormenting from Toph and my brother's sarcastic remarks. Suki and I are really close too."

"What about Zuko and Mai?" Aang probed.

"Eh, they could stay or go. It doesn't really matter." Katara said as she dressed herself in her pajamas.

Aang chuckled to himself. "So do you know what's wrong with Suki?"

"No not yet. I should know when we do our healing session tomorrow morning." Katara said as she climbed into bed with Aang. It was a little weird for her; sharing a bed with the man she met less than 2 years ago.

"She seems really sick, but she's playing it off as if nothing is happening at all." Aang said, rolling over closer to Katara.

"I know. That's Suki for you; she'll never tell you anything is wrong even if she's about to die." Katara laughed lightly. "We're really close friends, so I bet she'll confide in me tomorrow."

"I hope so. Are you going to tell anybody what she says?" Aang asked hopefully.

"Only if she says it's ok. She's not the very trusting type, and I think she would kill me if I told anybody anything she didn't want people to know." Katara said, scooting closer to Aang so that their bodies were touching.

Aang put his arm around Katara and asked, "Not even Sokka?"

"Not if Suki doesn't want me to. I'm not going to break her trust." Katara replied, yawning.

"Ok, well good night." Aang yawned sleepily.

"Good night."

Yay! They are finally in Ba Sing Se! I hope you liked my chapter because I worked for several hours on it. I threw in some commentary through the characters that ~the pigeon one will get. I happen to not be a fan of Mai and Zuko. I just really don't like Mai XD. I tried to stick to everybody's character as best as I possibly could. I haven't really had any practice with them, so it was a little hard. Forgive any shortcomings please. I tried to right any inconsistencies without being too blatantly obvious, but clearly that failed. So now I write chapter 10. It'll be a little bit of filler, maybe the climax of the story or I might put it off until chapter 11. Who knows? Once again, thanks for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it! Please comment!


	10. Chapter 10: Getting ready

Chapter 10: Getting ready

Suki sat on her bed with Katara. She was hesitant to start her healing session that Sokka had scheduled for that morning.

"I promise it won't hurt." Katara said in a comforting manner.

"Really?" Suki asked skeptically.

"I wouldn't lie. You would kill me if I lied. No waterbending is a match for you." Katara laughed.

Suki smiled as she lowered herself carefully onto the mattress. She was on her back with her shirt rolled up to reveal her wound. Katara contorted her face in response to the unsightly appearance.

"What, too gross for you?" Suki laughed.

"Just a bit." Katara looked away.

Suki was right; the bruise was pretty nasty. Various shades of yellows had become blotches in between the reds and blues.

Katara knelt next to Suki. She had brought in a bowl of water and placed it next to the bed earlier. Katara bended the water out of the bowl and made the water encase her hands.

Suki closed her eyes anticipating pain, despite Katara's promises. Lines formed on her forehead and Suki's eyebrows furrowed as the cool water made contact with her skin. The water produced a blue light around Katara's hands that made Suki's skin appear as if she were dead.

Suki's face softened as she realized that Katara wasn't lying; there was no pain. Suki was excited by the fact that she was going to be in excellent shape for Sokka's surprise later this evening. _Sokka will be so thrilled that I'm better!_ Suki thought to herself.

Katara soon finished with Suki's rib injury. The constant sensation of pain had dwindled to nothing over the course of no more than 15 minutes. The bruise itself was invisible. It was as if it had never happened.

"I'll try to unblock the chi that has gathered in your lungs. I don't know if it'll work or not." Katara said quietly, trying not to disturb Suki's peace.

Suki nodded and lay there with her eyes closed. Her arms were at her sides with her palms resting gently on the mattress.

Katara's hands were positioned above each of Suki's lungs. 10 minutes had gone by with Katara trying to be rid Suki of her cough when she finally gave up. Suki sat up, propping herself on one elbow as Katara bended the water back into the bowl.

"I really can't thank you enough." Suki said, looking Katara in the eyes.

"It's no problem Suki. I mean you are my brother's fi- girlfriend." Katara smiled, hoping Suki didn't notice her slip-up.

"I feel so much better now. The constant pain is gone, it's awesome!" Suki smiled and laughed. Her expression was of genuine joy, and she reached over to hug Katara.

Katara was slightly surprised by Suki's sudden out of character display of affection. Katara kindly hugged Suki back and stood up a few moments later.

"Sorry I couldn't really heal your cough cold thing." Katara looked apologetic.

"It's not that big of a deal. At least you tried. I'll get better eventually." Suki smiled and stood up as well.

Katara motioned for her to follow, and she did. Katara walked across the great room to the room she shared with Aang. Sokka and Aang had gone up to Zuko's apartment to get ready for the surprise. The gang was going out to a formal dinner and after they finished eating, Sokka was going to propose.

"Sokka bought you a dress for your surprise." Katara said excitedly. Katara and the rest of the group were also going to be dressed up for the formal event.

Suki looked surprised; her eyebrows were raised and her eyes widened. Katara removed the dress from the closet in her bedroom.

The dress was beautiful. It was the latest fashion in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se. The top layer of fabric was a light green that appeared yellow. It was trimmed with gold and beautiful embroidery work was done on the sleeves and around the neck in white. The embroidery depicted 3 jasmine flowers on each wrist and other flowers around her neck. The sleeves were loose and hung down several inches from her wrist. The middle layer was a deep green that contrasted nicely with the top layer. It was poofy around the neck and flat at the bottom of the dress where it hung below the gold trim of the top layer. The bottom layer was hardly seen except at the top where it served as a collar and around the wrists where it hugged her skin. The bottom layer was skintight and forced the occupant to move very slowly and gracefully.

Katara helped Suki into the dress very slowly. The bottom layer was the hardest to get into seeing as it was skintight. Suki didn't see much purpose in this layer but she figured this cost Sokka a lot of money so she wouldn't say anything.

"Suck in!" Katara commanded. Suki complied but it wasn't like she had a choice. Katara struggled to lace up the back of the dress.

Toph walked in on Katara and Suki attempting to get Suki dressed. Suki attempted to cover herself up but soon remembered Toph was blind and it didn't matter.

"I feel an extra presence." Toph said flatly.

Katara and Suki exchanged confused looks. Suki shrugged and Katara managed to finish lacing up the back of the bottom layer.

"What do you mean?" Suki asked.

"I feel four presences in the room. Unless Mai is sitting in the corner being so quiet I can't hear or feel her heartbeat, somebody else is here. I just can't place it." Toph elaborated.

Suki grabbed the middle layer and Katara helped her in it. This layer was much easier to get on, seeing as it was basically a sleeveless dress with a puffy neckline. It was almost as loose as her Kyoshi warrior dress.

"Ok? That's weird. Maybe you need to get your feet checked." Suki laughed as she struggled to get into the dress.

Katara lifted the final layer over Suki's head and Suki attempted to put her arms into the sleeves. After a few tugs and swear words the dress was on. Suki sighed a sigh of relief and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress accentuated her form. There was a band of gold trim at her waist that made her appear very thin. The large sleeves that exposed her wrists and the bottom layer made her arms and hands appear slender and delicate. This layer of the dress didn't have lace in the back, so it was quite a bit more difficult to get on- and breathe in.

"You look fantastic Suki." Katara said.

"I think so too." Toph smiled. Suki rolled her eyes. "It's useless on me." Toph smirked.

"How does she _do_ that?" Suki looked deranged.

Katara shrugged and pulled Suki into the bathroom. Toph followed behind them and sat down on the side of the bathtub. Katara had borrowed a chair from The Jasmine Dragon for Suki to use while she did her makeup.

Suki sat down on the chair and Katara sat on the counter. Katara had laid out all the makeup the two of them could ever need. Suki didn't need foundation because her skin was already flawlessly even. She picked up a dark brown kohl pencil. Suki lined from the outside corner of her eye to about ¾ of the way to the inside corner along the bottom. She did the same on the other eye. Suki lined the top of her eyelids and blinked a few times.

"I haven't worn makeup in a few days, I guess my eyes need a second to adjust." Suki laughed lightly to herself.

She picked up dark green eye shadow and a brush. She applied the dark green powder that matched the color of her dress to her eyelids. The color made her eyes appear more green than blue.

"Why is everybody dressing up?" Suki asked.

"Because you're surprise is that Sokka is going to kill you and they didn't want to change you into formal clothes to bury you." Toph said with a completely straight face.

"Ha ha, _very_ funny Toph." Suki replied.

Toph laughed loudly, rocking back so far she almost fell in the empty tub.

"I'm pretty sure the look on your face was priceless." Toph couldn't control her laughter.

"Did somebody use cactus juice on her rice this morning?" Suki said quietly to Katara.

Toph paused her laughter long enough to speak. "No I didn't have cactus juice this morning for your information." Toph said sharply.

_Someone's a little bipolar today. _Suki mouthed to Katara. She nodded in agreement. Toph got up and left a few seconds later. She wasn't really needed and it appeared as if she wasn't wanted. Suki and Katara were more mature than Toph and they didn't really identify with her sense of humor.

Toph didn't always want to hang out with the boys, but the way she acted sometimes forced her to. She sighed as she left the room. Suki was right; Toph was acting a little funny this morning. Katara had always thought that Toph liked Sokka. Perhaps the reason Toph was acting weird was because she was jealous Suki was getting married to Sokka.

"My turn." Katara said excitedly. She hopped down off the counter and headed back towards the closet.

Katara returned to the bathroom with her dress slung over her arm. Katara's dress was essentially the same as Suki's, but without the intricate embroidery work.

Suki looked away as Katara undressed. Katara laughed as she tossed her clothes into the bedroom. Katara grabbed the bottom layer of the dress and unlaced the back. Instead of struggling to get it over her head like they did with Suki, Katara stepped into the bottom and wriggled her way into the arms.

"Need any help?" Suki asked, laughing at the spastic movements of Katara.

"No not yet." Katara replied, her face was mildly contorted.

Suki smiled and sat down on the edge of the tub. Toph came back into the bathroom, because she remembered the boys wouldn't let her in while they were getting ready. Toph leaned up against the wall and her arms were crossed over her chest.

"Your next." Suki said in an ominous tone.

"Huh what now?" Toph asked, slightly alarmed.

"Can you lace me up?" Katara asked.

Suki stood up and grabbed each end of the lace for Katara's dress. She began to thread them through the designated holes and pulled each one tight as she did so.

"You're wearing a dress to dinner tonight." Suki said, concentrating on Katara's dress.

"The hell I'm not!" Toph yelled.

"Why not?" Suki argued.

"Because dresses SUCK. I much prefer my current outfit, even though I have no idea what it looks like." Toph retorted.

Suki rolled her eyes and sighed. She felt like Mai. A few moments later, Suki finished lacing up Katara's dress. Katara grabbed the dark green layer and slipped it on easily over her head. Suki tugged on the bottom portion of the dress to make it sit right on Katara's hips.

"Looks great!" Suki smiled excitedly.

"Thanks." Katara replied, spinning around. "I feel so girly." Katara sounded happy.

"It's nice to not have to be a warrior for once." Suki said as she picked up the top layer of Katara's dress.

"Time for the fun part." Katara said sarcastically.

Suki nodded in agreement and unlaced the back of Katara's dress. Katara lifted her arms in the air and Suki lifted the dress over Katara's head. Katara attempted to put her arms in the sleeves, but they were quite floppy and hard to maneuver into. Suki pulled and tugged at the dress until it was finally on. Several swear words later, the lace in the back was done up.

"Well that was needlessly complicated." Katara breathed heavily.

"What was that, like, 2 layers of lacing up, much wriggling, and a lot of swearing." Suki laughed.

Katara nodded and turned towards Toph. "Your turn!"

"No. I am _not_ wearing a dress. There is no way in hell I am ever wearing a dress again. I'd rather be naked." Toph sounded annoyed.

Suki walked over to Toph and grabbed her arm. Toph tried to resist, but Suki wouldn't have it.

"Child! You will wear a dress! I don't care if you want to or if you like it but you _will _wear it." Suki was tired from traveling so much over that last few days and she wasn't willing to put up with Toph's rebellion.

Katara was taken aback by Suki's sudden intensity. She went to the bedroom nonchalantly and returned with Toph's dress.

The dress was unlike Suki and Katara's. It was simple and had hardly any form. She didn't have any shape to accentuate seeing as she was only 12, so the dress was appropriate.

Toph tried to leave but Suki stopped her. Suki was substantially taller than Toph, so she bent down and wrapped her arms around her, picking the very angry Toph up off the floor.

"Put me down!" Toph yelled.

"Are you not going to run away?" Suki asked, trying to hold on to the wriggling Toph.

"No." Toph said grudgingly.

Suki released Toph and folded her arms across her chest.

"Why didn't you leave 5 minutes ago when you had the chance?" Katara asked, confused.

"It didn't occur to me until just now." Toph said with an unimpressed look on her face.

Katara shrugged. "So to get the dress on, you kind of have to have no other clothes on."

"I know, I know." Toph replied reluctantly. She began to remove her pants and shirt. She was decently covered up below it, so it didn't really matter if Katara and Suki looked or not.

Toph's dress was quite simple to put on. All she had to do was lift up her arms and put them through the sleeves. Katara lifted it over her head and Toph raised her arms. Suki guided her arms into the sleeves and pulled the hole over her head. A few tugs later, the dress was situated perfectly on Toph's childlike body.

Toph's dress was a simple one; it was white and green. The sleeves and chest were white and the bottom was light green. It looked almost identical to the dress she was wearing in Aang's vision at the swamp, except the colors were reversed.

"I know it means nothing, but the dress looks really good on you." Suki smiled as she adjusted a few points on Toph's dress.

"Mhm." Katara agreed.

"Time for hair and your makeup!" Suki said excitedly. She was quite excited that she could be girly for once without being criticized.

Meanwhile in Iroh's flat, Aang, Zuko, and Sokka were getting ready. Mai was there too, except she wasn't going to dress up more than her regular fire nation robes.

Zuko played with his hair in the mirror, trying to part it just right. He brushed it and styled it so perfectly that Mai commented on his feminism. She was sitting on the bed, watching him get ready for the dinner in the mirror.

"What, you're more excited about this than I am." Mai said bleakly.

"Everybody is more excited about everything than you." Zuko replied.

Mai sighed and rolled her eyes as she always did. She reclined on the bed she shared with Zuko.

In the other room, Aang and Sokka were getting ready in a slightly less particular manner than Zuko.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Sokka asked worriedly.

"Of course she will Sokka. She's your girlfriend of what, 2 years? Of course she'll say yes." Aang replied, brushing his hair.

Aang had let his hair grow out since the war ended because he saw no real point in keeping his head bald. It was quite the pain to keep it short, and since he didn't have to advertise he was the avatar now the world was at peace, he had longer hair.

Sokka had shaved the sides of his head like the traditional water tribe warrior wolf knot. He was no longer in hiding from the fire nation so he decided to go back to his cultural traditions. When he got back to the southern water tribe or wherever Suki chose to live, he was going to grow out his hair like his father's.

"You really think so?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"Of course I do. I mean, if she marries you she'll be related to the avatar!" Aang smiled.

"How do you figure?" Sokka asked.

"I'm eventually going to marry your sister. Duh!" Aang made a face at Sokka.

"Oh." Sokka squeaked. He was quite surprised by Aang's definitive tone.

Aang smiled cheerily as he exited the room. He was going to change into his formal air bender robes.

Sokka decided that he was finished with his hair. He should've been, he had spent 20 minutes on it. Sokka left the bathroom and decided he should probably get changed into his formal clothes. It was 4 o'clock and dinner was about an hour and a half away. He still had to finish getting dressed and they had to get to the other side of the upper ring to eat.

Sokka wore the same outfit as he did in the Jasmine Dragon after the fire lord was defeated. It was dark green and had gold trim. It was a shirt with long sleeves and long, loose pants. There was also a matching robe without sleeves.

Sokka had brought his outfit from the apartment to Iroh's and put it in the living room earlier. He left the bathroom to retrieve the clothing and returned a few moments later. Aang had stolen the bathroom in the few seconds Sokka wasn't there.

"Really?" Sokka called to Aang from the other side of the door.

"Yep!" Aang said cheerily.

"Well hurry up ok? I don't want to be late." Sokka said impatiently.

"Calm down Sokka, we've got a little less than an hour and a half." Aang replied as he finished getting dressed.

Aang adjusted his clothing in the mirror and opened the door. He was wearing the same outfit as he was when the war was declared over. Aang exited the bathroom and Sokka pushed past him to get in.

Aang smiled at Sokka's ridiculousness. Sokka scrambled to get himself ready for the biggest event of his life.

A few minutes later, Sokka had finished getting dressed. He was all ready to go, as was everyone else.

Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Mai all headed downstairs to the Jasmine Dragon. Iroh planned to work that night, so he stayed behind.

Suki, Katara, and Toph were all finished with their hair and makeup. They all walked out of their apartment and met the boys and Mai.

"Wow." Aang and Sokka said simultaneously. Their jaws dropped at the sight of their girlfriends.

Katara and Suki blushed at their boyfriends' absurdity. Suki walked over to Sokka and planted a kiss on his lips. Sokka was pleasantly surprised.

"Shall we be on our way?" Aang asked, taking Katara's hand.

"We shall." Sokka replied. He put his arm around Suki's waist and pulled her closer to him and smiled. His master plan had finally come through.

And thus concludes chapter 10. Hope you liked it and think it was worth the wait. I have about a million things going on right now and writing was at the bottom of the list unfortunately. I think this chapter is ok, but not a favorite. Hopefully you think otherwise. Anyway, now that I have time, I'm going to write more. yay avatar! Again, apologies on the late update.


	11. Chapter 11: Awkward Dinners

Chapter 11: Awkward dinners

Sokka was eager; he was less than 2 hours away from being engaged. No longer Suki's boyfriend, Sokka was about to gain the title of fiancé. He held Suki's hand as the group walked towards their table.

The concierge led the group to a large table at the back of the restaurant. The lighting was minimal, and was provided by candles stationed strategically around the restaurant. The tables and half-walls were made of a deep cherry colored wood. The fabrics were red; untraditional of Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom in general.

Suki and Sokka were seated together at the back of the table. Aang and Katara sat next to each other on Sokka's side and Zuko and Mai sat next to each other on Suki's side. Toph sat across from Sokka, and in between Aang and Zuko.

The waitress distributed menus to everybody, including Toph, who waved her hand in front of her face to indicate her blind status. The waitress awkwardly took back the menu and blushed.

"Sorry." The waitress said, discomfited.

"It's fine." Toph replied in a surly tone. She wasn't upset about the menu; she was upset about Sokka's future marriage.

"I'm Joo-Dee." The waitress introduced herself.

Aang's eyes widened, and Katara laughed. Sokka also laughed and tried to examine Joo-Dee's face in the dim light. It was not in fact the Joo-Dee they had had a year ago, but he figured she must have come from the same brainwashing camp.

"Can I get everybody something to drink?" Joo-Dee asked with a smile on her face.

"Tea." Toph said; her voice flat.

"Tea please." Katara said politely.

"Water, thank you." Aang said, his eyes shone with excitement for his eventual brother in law.

"Water." Sokka said, trying to contain his excitement.

"Tea please." Suki said, contemplating the surprise. She thought she had figured it out, but she wasn't 100% sure.

"We'll both have water." Zuko said, Mai didn't want to talk. Nobody minded this.

Joo-Dee nodded and walked away. The group sat in awkward silence until Katara broke the ice.

"Sooo…" Katara said, drumming her fingers on the table.

"Can you just tell me what the surprise is?" Suki asked desperately.

"Have you seriously not figured it out yet? I thought you were the smart one of Sokka's various love interests." Mai said with a sour expression.

"I have an idea, I'm not dumb." Suki replied sharply.

"Oh look our drinks are here!" Katara said, thankful that the drinks prevented a fight in the middle of the restaurant.

Joo-Dee handed out the drinks and walked away.

"Why don't we decide what we're going to eat?" Katara half-asked, half-demanded.

The group nodded and turned their heads down to look at their menus.

"Does somebody mind reading the menu to me?" Toph asked loudly.

"Sure." Aang replied kindly. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Brains." Toph replied with a sarcastic smile.

"Very funny." Aang replied.

Aang read the menu to Toph and everyone else scanned it as well. Katara noticed that all the dishes contained meat.

"Aang, is there anything you can eat on this menu?" Katara asked quietly, leaning over and whispering in his ear.

"Did you check the vegetarian section?" Aang teased.

Katara's cheeks turned red briefly. She flipped the page, and there it was: the vegetarian section.

Joo-Dee returned with a notepad in hand.

"Are we ready to order?" She said cheerily.

"Yes." Everybody spoke simultaneously.

Everybody placed their orders and sat in silence. Sokka had expected this dinner to go much more smoothly than it was.

"So are you excited?" Aang asked Sokka.

"Yes! More than you could possibly imagine." Sokka said, his face broke into a huge grin.

Sokka turned to Suki with his stupid grin. He lifted his arm from his leg and put it over her shoulder.

"Do you know what the surprise is?" Sokka asked, his grin was gone, but his tone was still playful.

"I think so." Suki said excitedly. She whispered into Sokka's ear, "I think Aang is going to ask Katara to marry him."

"Let's go with that." Sokka smiled; relieved she hadn't ruined his plan. Sokka was in fact a little surprised she hadn't figured it out yet.

Mai rolled her eyes and sighed a disgusted sigh. Toph sat back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What's with the unimpressed looks?" Zuko asked.

"Mai's always unimpressed with everything, and I don't know what's up with Toph." Suki said, shooting a dirty look at Mai.

"Are you trying to start something?" Mai asked in her whiney tone.

"Wow, just calm down you two." Aang said shooting a menacing look at both Suki and Mai. "And Suki has a point, what's the matter Toph?"

"You guys wouldn't understand, I'm fine." Toph said, with a sour expression on her face. The truth was the group would understand, they just wouldn't like it. Toph liked Sokka, but nobody else knew. She kept her mouth shut because she didn't want to upset anything.

Aang wasn't going to press the matter, he had learned the first time he was eating with Toph not to aggravate her.

"Ok." He replied tentatively, in fear of being smacked into the table.

"You know what? This is an occasion to celebrate." Katara said.

"Does she know Aang's going to propose or is she talking about something else?" Suki asked Sokka quietly.

"I don't know." Sokka whispered back.

"What occasion are we celebrating?" Aang asked.

"The gang is back together! The entire group hasn't been back together for at least 3 months. Frankly, I missed everyone. I was really hoping we would be back together earlier."

"Here she goes with the preachy hope speech." Toph said quietly. Luckily, Katara didn't hear.

"I'm really glad to see everyone too! I missed everybody a lot." Suki agreed.

"I didn't miss anyone." Mai said quietly.

"Well why don't you go back home? Nobody missed you either!" Suki said sharply.

"What is the matter with you two?" Zuko and Sokka asked at the same time, trying to defend their girlfriends.

"Well if you recall, you captured my group of warriors, and then posed as us to overthrow Ba Sing Se. I can't imagine why I still would possibly be upset with you." Suki said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Joo-Dee appeared with a tray full of food. She was quite good at arriving in time to prevent possible death matches. She distributed everyone's dinner and walked away.

Everyone dug into their dinner, it was very delicious. The tension between Mai and Suki was looming in the air, but everybody tried to ignore it.

Suki reached over with her chopsticks and stole a piece of roast duck from Sokka's bowl. She laughed with her mouth full of food.

"Really?" Sokka asked.

"Mhm!" Suki nodded, covering her mouth her free hand.

Sokka quickly stole a piece of her chicken, and popped it in his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed.

"Ha, now we're even!" Sokka laughed, kissing Suki on the cheek. Toph stared down at her bowl, even though she couldn't see, she still knew what was going on.

Sokka picked up another one of Suki's pieces of chicken and put it up to her mouth; she kindly took it and smiled warmly at him. She returned the gesture and Mai fake gagged.

"Oh come on, it's not like we aren't that sappy most of the day. We can barely keep our faces apart." Zuko laughed.

"You do make a good point, but they're just- It's weird." Mai complained, picking at her food.

"Oh calm down, it's not that big of a deal." Zuko replied, stealing one of Mai's pieces of meat.

"I'm so glad I can't see any of this." Toph said with her mouth full.

"I think it's cute." Katara smiled and kissed Aang on the cheek.

"You think everything's cute." Toph said sourly.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." Katara said quite proudly.

"Ok guys, what is with all the tension?" Aang asked, setting his chopsticks down loudly. "Toph, let's start with you."

"I'm just jealous that everybody else has a boyfriend or girlfriend. It's been bumming me out, but it's fine." Toph blurted out. She hadn't intended to say anything, but her mouth beat her brain.

"Well we can solve that." Sokka replied.

"No you really can't. I'll figure something out on my own." Toph replied, putting food in her mouth in hopes that other people wouldn't keep pressing the subject.

"Ok, but if you ever want help, just ask." Aang said nicely.

"Thanks twinkle toes." Toph laughed.

"What about you Mai, what's your deal?" Aang asked.

"Have you not met Mai?" Zuko laughed, his arm was around Mai's shoulder and he shook her playfully.

"Really Zuko?" Mai asked, slightly infuriated by his response to Aang.

"Chill out, you have been higher strung than usual. What's going on?" Zuko asked compassionately.

"I'll tell you later." Mai said, staring down at the table. She had no real intentions of telling him, but it got him off her back for the time being.

"Suki, why are you so tense?" Sokka asked.

"I still haven't forgiven Mai for what she did to me. That and her uncle is the warden." Suki replied, picking at her food.

"I understand." Sokka said, lifting Suki's chin up and kissing her on her lips.

"Is this little talk it out thing over? I'm pretty sure the levels of awkward are hazardous to our health." Toph said. She had finished her dinner and was finishing up her tea.

Everybody else was close to finishing their meals, and Toph eagerly waited for dessert. She sat patiently, contemplating her lack of a boyfriend.

Mai appeared to have calmed down, as did Suki. Katara was never worked up about anything. She was just excited her best friend and brother were about to get married.

Joo-Dee returned. "Is everyone ready for dessert?"

"Not quite. These 6 weirdoes were discussing their feelings instead of eating." Toph replied.

Joo-Dee nodded and walked away. Toph sat there, looking at the table while everybody else finished their dinners.

About five minutes later, everybody had finished and Joo-Dee returned. She gathered everyone's dishes and returned to take their dessert orders.

Suki and Sokka ordered chocolate cake to share, Mai and Zuko ordered cheesecake to share, and Aang and Katara shared a fruit pie. Toph had her own egg custard tart.

Suki and Sokka took turns feeding each other the chocolate cake. It was 2 layers of cake, stuck together by thick chocolate frosting.

"This is the best chocolate cake I've ever had." Suki smiled. Sokka took a piece of chocolate cake up to Suki's mouth, and when she opened it, he quickly popped it into his own mouth.

Playfully, Suki inconspicuously got some of the frosting on her finger and smeared it on his nose. When everybody saw what she had done, they laughed.

"Really?" Sokka asked, laughing with the group.

"You betcha." Suki laughed, offering the last piece of cake to her boyfriend.

Everybody finished their deserts in a matter of minutes and they waited for Joo-Dee to return with the bill.

Zuko was the Fire Lord, and therefore had the most money. Since Sokka was one of his close friends, he decided to pay for everyone's meals.

"Thank you Zuko, but you really don't have to." Sokka said, extending his hand for the bill.

"Just consider it a we- present." Zuko smiled sheepishly at his slip-up.

Zuko grabbed a handful of gold coins and Joo-Dee's eyes widened.

"You can keep the difference." Zuko smiled.

Joo-Dee couldn't speak. This was the best tip she had ever received. She smiled and walked away.

"Well are we ready to go?" Sokka asked.

"I guess so." Aang replied.

Sokka stood up and pulled out Suki's chair for her. She stood up and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're dad taught you very good manners." Suki smiled as she waited for everyone else to stand up.

Sokka took Suki's hand and fiddled with the betrothal necklace in his pocket with his free hand. Everybody stood up and left the restaurant and headed towards the Firelight Fountain.

Suki and Sokka were ahead of the group by a few paces and Toph was trailing a few paces behind Zuko and Mai.

Sokka was on his way to being a married man.

Yay chapter 11 done! Hope you enjoyed it, and it took much less time than chapter 10. It was quite fun to write, and I hope you liked the awkwardness. I really really don't like Mai, as you might be able to tell. Of course I still have to write her in because she is a part of the story. It's not cool to just kill someone off because you don't like them XD. So anyway, one more chapter and Sokka's a married man! Many surprises and twists on the way.


	12. Chapter 12: Surprises

Chapter 12

Surprises

Sokka held Suki's hand as they walked down the dimly lit stone path. Zuko, Mai, Katara, Aang, and Toph followed closely behind them. Everyone except Toph had a hand to hold.

As the group headed toward firelight fountain, Sokka fiddled with Suki's betrothal necklace in his pocket. He traced over the inscription with his fingernails on the back and the drawing on the front.

Betrothal necklaces were a custom of the northern water tribe; however Sokka didn't know what else to give to Suki.

Before Sokka had set out to retrieve Suki, he had carved her a necklace and left it safe in Ba Sing Se.

He had spent days searching for the right stone to give to Suki. Sokka found the perfect one at the end of the third day, just as he was about to head home for dinner. It was a sky blue stone with streaks of cerulean in it.

Sokka spent two weeks carving the betrothal necklace. He had combined the symbols of their people into the design of the necklace. The stone was shaped in a perfect circle, so it made the carving much easier.

The national emblem of the Earth Kingdom was a circle with a square in the middle of it, so Sokka had carved out a square in the exact center of the stone.

On the left side of the stone, Sokka carved a crescent moon. The moon was set in from the side by a few millimeters. The moon followed the length and curve of the stone. The top of the moon stopped at the top of the arch of the stone, and did the same at the bottom.

On the right, the earthbending symbol was carved. It was smaller than the crescent moon and larger than the square cut out of the middle. The waterbending symbol was carved across the top of the stone. The three waves stemmed from the moon. The last element of the carving was the waves that filled in the spaces between all the other major elements of the carving.

As they approached the firelight fountain, Sokka's heart fluttered. He was about to ask the biggest question of his life, and he hoped more than anything that he didn't choke. Sokka was about to become a married man; he was about to lose his freedom.

Nobody was in the courtyard. The air was cool and a faint cool breeze was blowing. The flames of the candles flickered on the water.

The sound of the water bubbling over the three tiered fountain was calming to Sokka. Suki had figured it out several days ago, but was keeping her mouth shut.

Sokka ushered Suki to the side of the fountain. The rest of the group stood in a loose circle around them.

Aang stood next to Katara. His arm was wrapped around her waist. He had a smile on his face as he watched his best friend try to awkwardly propose.

Toph stood with her arms crossed across her chest near Sokka. She was most displeased by Sokka's course of action. She was jealous of Suki, but she couldn't do anything to change the outcome of their relationship status.

Zuko and Mai were resisting the urge to make out with each other. Their fingers were interlocked and Mai was actually smiling.

Sokka took a deep breath.

"Suki?" His voice shook.

"Yes Sokka?" Suki smiled. She held Sokka's hands in her own. She knew what was about to happen.

"Will you marry me?" It all came out as one word.

Suki opened her mouth but no sound came out. Sokka placed the betrothal necklace in her hand.

He eyes lit up at the astounding detail in the necklace he had just bestowed upon her. Suddenly her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Suki's knees trembled and buckled and she fell into Sokka. He wrapped his arms around her thin body, trying to support the dead weight.

"Katara? What do I do?" Sokka yelled.

"I- I don't know!" Katara replied, scared.

"Can't you do the magic heal-y stuff?" Sokka asked, laying Suki down on the ground.

"I could if I knew what was wrong!" Katara yelled, not knowing what to do for her best friend.

"Maybe we should take her back to the apartment." Toph suggested.

"That's a good idea Toph. I'll call Appa." Aang replied, as calmly as he could. He pulled out his bison whistle and blew on it.

"Told you this was a good investment." Aang said under his breath.

Sokka held Suki in his lap on the ground. He put his head up to her chest. Her heart beats were faint and rapid. Her breaths were also rapid and shallow. She had beads of cold sweat on her forehead and her face and body were tense.

Appa quickly arrived on scene. Sokka stood up and carried Suki onto his saddle. The rest of the group quickly followed and Appa set off to the apartment.

Appa flew as fast as he could and landed in front of the apartment a few minutes later. Sokka carried Suki off of Appa, and noticed she was gripping the betrothal necklace so tight, her knuckles were white.

They entered the apartment and Sokka laid his unconscious girlfriend on the mattress.

"What now?" Sokka asked in a terrified tone.

"Um, maybe the dress is too tight, let's take it off." Katara suggested.

Everybody crowded around Suki, Katara, and Sokka.

"Everybody should go in to the other room and change or something." Katara demanded.

"But-" Aang protested. Katara shot him a fierce look and he immediately scampered.

"Ok, let's try to take the dress off with as little damage to Suki and the dress as possible."

Sokka began to undress his girlfriend. He was pretty much a pro by now, but he was trying to keep the dress in a good condition.

Katara and Sokka worked for 10 minutes at least before Suki was down to her underwear.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Sokka cried.

"I don't know, but listen. He breathing is back to normal." Katara said in a calming manner.

"Do you have anything for her to wear? Lying in your underwear pretty much strips you of any dignity." Katara asked.

"Yeah, hold on, let me get some." Sokka said as he stood up.

He walked quickly over to Suki's bag and grabbed some loose fitting clothing.

Meanwhile in the other room, Toph and Mai were sitting in the chairs awkwardly.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Toph asked,

"Um, sure?" Mai replied skeptically.

"There's an 8th presence in our group, only I can't figure it out." Toph explained.

"I don't know what you mean." Mai played along.

"Well you know how my earthbending works, right?"

"Yes, go on." Mai sighed.

"Well I can feel another presence, but I can't _see_ it."

"That's weird." Mai said, with her arm across her stomach.

"I know. I think somebody might be pre- you know what? Forget it. It's dumb. Stupid. Not even likely." Toph argued with herself.

Mai realized she had displayed far too much kindness and got up to go change. Toph didn't seem to notice or care.

Back in Sokka and Suki's bedroom, Katara and Sokka had Suki dressed in a loose fitting shirt and pants.

"What do we do now?" Sokka asked worriedly.

"Honestly? I have no idea." Katara said, her face had lines across it.

"I think you should just watch her and see if she shows any signs of progress, come wake me up." Katara said kindly as she stood up.

Sokka nodded and watched his girlfriend. Her eyes were shut and her breathing was finally smooth.

The group had all changed and returned to the apartment to check on Suki. Katara and Sokka were the only ones still in their formal wear.

"Well what's going on?" Zuko broke the silence.

"Is Suki going to be ok?" Aang asked.

"Yes, I think she's going to be fine. I don't know what caused her to pass out like that, but Sokka's watching her like a hawk."

"Are we allowed to look?" Aang asked, his childlike curiosity burning in his eyes.

"I think this is really hard on Sokka. Maybe we should just leave him alone." Katara replied, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Aang sighed heavily.

"I think we should all just go to sleep." Katara said in a motherly tone.

Everyone got up and obeyed. Katara followed Aang into their bedroom and got ready for bed.

Sokka sat next to Suki, watching her intently. Her hand was still gripping the betrothal necklace.

"Suki, if you can hear me, please wake up or show some sign that you're ok. I'm scared and I want you to get better. Please, I'm begging you, just wake up. Please. I love you."


	13. Chapter 13: Sibling Rivalry

Chapter 13:

Sibling Rivalry

It was dawn. Sokka sat next to Suki, his eyes fixated on her. He hadn't slept all night, and his eyes were heavy and dark.

Sokka was startled by a light knock on the door from Katara.

"What are you doing up?" Sokka asked.

"Same question." Katara replied, entering the room.

Sokka ran his hand through his hair and looked solemnly at Katara,

"How is she doing?" Katara asked.

"She hasn't moved since last night, and she won't let that necklace out of her hand." Sokka laughed lightly at his girlfriend's stubbornness.

"At least she hasn't let go." Katara replied.

"Katara, I thought you said you said you had healed her." Sokka suddenly said sharply.

"I thought I did. She seemed fine." Katara said defensively.

"But you _said_ she was ok." Sokka said threateningly.

"I- Sokka, I'm sorry. She was better when I healed her, but I think this is something new. She wasn't coughing or anything." Katara said apologetically.

Sokka stood up suddenly and yelled, "It's all your fault Katara!"

"How is this _my_ fault?" Katara asked, matching Sokka's intensity. She was infuriated by his blame.

"Well you said she was fine! You said she was going to be ok! You lied!" Sokka shouted in Katara's face.

"Yeah, because I thought she WAS! I was only trying to help, but obviously you don't need it or want it." Katara screamed. The water in the basin flew up with Katara's arms.

"Yeah, you broke her MORE!" Sokka accused loudly.

Aang walked sleepily into the room.

"What's going on guys?" Aang asked.

"Stay out of this!" Sokka and Katara yelled simultaneously.

Aang, shocked, returned to his room.

"I didn't _break her even more_!" Katara mocked Sokka in a stupid voice. "You're the one who let her ride the mail carts in Omashu, and then let it _crash_!" Katara roared.

"How can you say that?" Sokka asked, obviously hurt by what Katara had just said.

"How can you accuse me of breaking your girlfriend? I actually helped her!" Katara countered.

Toph walked into the room, still in her pajamas.

"Will you two _please_ be QUIET?" Toph yelled.

Katara and Sokka were standing aggressively over Suki.

"Fine, if you don't want my help, then I won't do anything more for you!" Katara screamed as she stormed past Toph.

She stomped angrily across the hardwood floors to her bedroom. Aang was waiting for her on the bed. She stormed past him and galumphed onto the bed.

"Do you want to talk?" Aang asked kindly.

"NO!" Katara said sharply.

"Hey, just calm down. Sokka's just pushing your buttons. He's been awake all night and this is really hard on him."

Katara stood up in a flurry. "Are you siding with him?"

"I'm not, why don't you take it down a notch. Why don't you go waterbend or something?" Aang suggested.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Katara yelled.

Aang stood up and moved in front of Katara and placed his hands on both her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes, and she was about to jerk away until she realized he was only trying to help.

"I'm so sorry Aang." Katara broke down, hugging Aang.

"It's ok Katara." Aang replied, holding Katara close.

"No it's not, you were only trying to help me and I was so rude to you." Katara fought back the tears.

Aang was finally taller than Katara, seeing as he had shot up several inches in the past few months. Katara's head fit perfectly on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist and silently comforted her.

Zuko and Mai were awake, lying on their shared bed. Zuko twirled a piece of Mai's long silky black hair in between his fingers.

"Toph was talking to me yesterday." Mai broke the silence.

"What did she say?" Zuko inquired.

"Well, she was talking about some extra presence." Mai explained.

"Like a spirit?" Zuko asked.

"I don't really know." Mai laughed lightly. "She started saying something about someone being something and then she started mumbling incoherently and I wasn't all that interested until I thought I heard my name. However, she was arguing with herself, so I didn't take much notice."

Zuko traced a line up and down Mai's stomach. She squirmed because she was so ticklish.

"Do you know anything new about Suki?" Zuko asked.

"Hold on, let me use my girl powers to talk to Katara." Mai said, squeezing her eyes shut. She was in an abnormally good mood.

"Got anything?"

"Really?" Mai asked, laughing.

"Bad reception?" Zuko asked, kissing Mai on the cheek.

Mai smiled and nodded. The two fire nation members were lying on top of the covers and Zuko only had pants on. Mai traced over the contours of Zuko's muscled stomach with her index finger. He was perfectly defined, and hadn't stopped training since the war was over. Mai was quite happy with this fact.

Sokka sat next to Suki again. He was frustrated, confused, and upset all at the same time. In addition to the stress of his girlfriend being comatose, he felt guilty about blaming his sister for his problems.

Katara sighed as she stood in the doorway. She was holding a tray for Sokka.

"I'm sorry Katara. Really, I shouldn't have blamed Suki on you. It's not your fault."

"It's fine. I'm not mad anymore." Katara said, advancing towards Sokka.

"Thank you for understanding." Sokka said, looking down at Suki.

"I also shouldn't have said those nasty things to you either." Katara said, standing in front of Sokka.

"What's on the tray?" Sokka asked.

"Rice and tea. It's yours if you want it." Katara said warmly.

Sokka took the tray, but still watched Suki. Katara left the room, understanding the want to be left alone.

Suki lied there motionless except for her chest rising and falling as she breathed.

"If you can hear me Suki, please do something. Make a noise, twitch, or open your eyes. Just do _something_ to let me know your ok." Sokka pleaded.

She remained on the bed, completely motionless. Toph stood in the doorway, for she had been unable to go back to sleep.

"She's going to be ok." Toph said, trying to comfort Sokka.

"Do you really think so?" Sokka asked, hopeful.

"I wouldn't lie to you. That would be cruel. I'm all for pranks, but that wouldn't be funny." Toph said as she walked over to the bed.

She sat down gently on the opposite side from Sokka. _That presence is stronger, but Katara's walking in here. I can't be sure of anything yet._

"You really need some rest Sokka, you look like you haven't slept in- well that's because you haven't." Toph smiled.

Sokka looked down and realized that he was still wearing the same thing as last night.

"You're right, I should at least change." Sokka said as he stood up.

He stretched his arms over his head and began to undress. Katara walked into the room and covered her eyes.

"You should really shut the door when you decide to change." Katara said, standing in the doorway.

Toph earthbended the door shut, slamming it in Katara's face. She had made a hand out of earth and made the hand slam the door.

"Why did you do that?" Katara yelled.

"Talk to the hand." Toph cackled.

Katara opened the door, trying not to tear Toph's head off with a water whip. Sokka finished getting changed and sat back down.

"Oh calm down sugar queen." Toph was in stitches, rolling around on the bed like a mad person.

Katara made a face and took a deep breath. She sat down at the foot of the bed in between Sokka and Toph.

The tray had Sokka's empty tea cup and rice bowl. Katara placed her hand on her brother's shoulder.

"She's going to be ok." Katara said. "I promise."

Just then, Suki gasped. Sokka whipped around to see her eyes fluttering.

"What's going on?" Suki asked, her voice cracked and weak.

Yay! End of the chapter. I neglected to add commentary on the last chapter. Well I hope you like the crazy twist. There's at least one more to come. XD you'll just have to wait until I write the chapter. So there will probably only be a few more chapters in this story, and then I move on to the sequel. Hope you guys will read that! Thank you to all who review!


	14. Chapter 14: Awakening

Chapter 14:

Awakening

Suki weakly supported herself on her elbows. Sokka sat next to her on the bed.

Toph and Katara had left the room, as they figured they weren't needed.

"What happened last night? All I remember is us eating dinner and walking to the firelight fountain and then I remember you pulling something out of your pocket and then I blacked out." Suki said, looking up at Sokka with her big blue-green eyes.

"Check your hand." Sokka replied, smiling.

Sure enough, Suki was still holding the betrothal necklace. She hadn't even realized it was still in her hand. Suki gasped at the beautiful carving.

"Sokka- I- this is beautiful! Thank you so much!" Suki stumbled over her words.

"So I never got an answer." Sokka said, his heart pounding.

"To what?" Suki asked stupidly.

"Will you marry me?" Sokka said, much smoother than he had the last time. He was glad she didn't remember.

"Of course Sokka!" Suki said.

"Good." Sokka smiled as he kissed Suki on the lips. "Do you like your betrothal necklace?"

"Sokka, it is the prettiest thing I have ever seen. I love it almost more than you." Suki smiled and made a fake gag noise at her sappy response.

She examined it closer and noticed all the fine detail Sokka had put into it. Suki traced over the smooth edge with her thumb.

"Will you help me get this on?" Suki asked, turning around and holding her hair.

"Couldn't be happier to." Sokka replied happily.

Sokka gently tied the necklace around Suki's neck. He stood up and walked in front of her. She was kneeling down and she adjusted her hair before she looked up.

Sokka held out his hand, offering to help her up. She kindly took it and hoisted herself up. Suki let go of his hand and walked towards the door. She felt her knees wobble and she stopped moving. Certain that Sokka had seen, she turned around and smiled sheepishly.

"What?" Sokka asked stupidly.

"Never mind." Suki replied, waiting for Sokka to stand next to her.

She hooked her arm around his and they walked toward the door. The whole group was waiting for them in the great room.

"She's alive!" Aang said, holding out his arms like a zombie and making a stupid face.

"Yes, alive and well." Suki smiled and laughed, leaning on Sokka.

Zuko and Mai were sitting on the couch, Mai looked like she was asleep on his shoulder.

"Glad to hear you're ok and didn't turn into another spirit." Zuko teased. Sokka shot him a dirty look.

"Aren't you hungry?" Toph asked. She was reclined on the other couch, with her feet on the table.

"Yeah, I am actually. What do we have to eat?" Suki asked, patting her stomach.

"Tea, rice, general earth kingdom foods." Katara responded, getting up from her chair. "Did you want me to go get you some?" She offered.

"Yes, thank you. That would be great." Suki replied.

Katara nodded and walked away. She paused at the front door and turned around. "What do you want?" Katara laughed at her forgetfulness.

"Surprise me." Suki said.

Katara shrugged and turned around. Suki crossed her legs and Sokka leaned on the back of the chair.

"So how are you feeling?" Zuko asked.

"Really good actually. I'm a little nauseous, but other than that I'm fine." Suki replied. Sokka raised an eyebrow when she said she was nauseous.

"That's good to hear. You took quite a spill." Zuko laughed lightly.

Mai opened her eyes and sat up. "Is that your betrothal necklace?" She asked.

Sokka was pleased with her noticing. "Indeed it is." Suki smiled at Sokka.

"Let me see!" Mai said excitedly.

Both Zuko and Suki were surprised by Mai's interest and excitement level. She was acting rather out of character lately.

Mai got up and walked around the table. She knelt in front of Suki and put her hand to her neck. Suki flinched at her cold fingers.

"I'm not going to slit your throat." Mai laughed.

"I know. Your hands are cold!" Suki gasped.

"Cold-hearted." Toph mumbled to herself. No one seemed to notice.

"I can't help it. This necklace is beautiful!" She said cheerily. "Why can't you make me one of these Zuko?" Her tone suddenly disgusted.

"We're _fire nation._" Zuko retorted.

"So?" Mai asked.

"Ugh, I'll make you one if you want." Zuko rolled his eyes and sighed in a Mai-like manner.

"Good." Mai stood up and sat back down next to Zuko.

Katara returned with some roast duck, rice, and tea for Suki. She set down the tray of food in front of Suki on the coffee table.

"That smells delicious." Sokka closed his eyes and smiled as he inhaled.

"Mine." Suki said protectively.

Suki picked up the bowl of roast duck and rice and began eating. She gracefully grabbed the pieces and popped them into her mouth. Sokka stood behind her, waiting hopefully for her to offer some.

"Thank you Katara." Suki said, smiling at Katara. Katara smiled back and sat down next to Aang on the couch.

"Come here." Suki motioned to Sokka to lean over.

"What?" Sokka asked, when he was within a few inches of her face.

"Open." Suki said.

Sokka complied and Suki put a piece of duck in his mouth.

"Thanks." Sokka replied with his mouth full.

"Don't speak with your mouth full!" Katara scolded.

"Sorry _mom._" Sokka replied sarcastically, mouth no longer full of food.

Suki finished her meal shortly after Katara's scolding. She picked up the tea and began to sip it.

"So what are we going to get up to today?" Katara asked.

"Why don't we just hang out? Chat and stuff." Suki suggested.

"Why don't we actually go and _do_ something? We all seem to be pretty lazy." Zuko protested.

"Are you going to attack me with fireballs for not doing anything again?" Aang teased. Zuko responded with a dirty look and a shake of his long black hair.

"Well how about the girls stay here and the boys can go gallivanting off doing silly things." Katara suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Mai said, standing up.

"I don't get to spend any time with my fiancé?" Sokka asked.

"Nope." Aang said cheerily, grabbing Sokka's arm and pulling him out the door. Zuko followed behind the excited 13 year old.

"Ok, well now that we have the house to ourselves, what do you want to talk about?" Suki asked.

"You." Toph said, her voice flat.

"What about me?" Suki asked, confused.

"Well, there's this extra presence that I feel when I'm with you. However I couldn't pinpoint it to you, because Sugar Queen was always nearby." Toph explained.

Suki looked perplexed. Katara and Suki exchanged alarmed glances. Mai, returning back to her gloomy self, was cleaning her nails, completely unaware of the sudden seriousness.

"I think one of you is…" Toph paused.

"Is what?" Katara asked, her heart rate elevated.

"Pregnant." Toph blurted out.

"What?" Suki asked, standing up from shock.

"It feels like there are 5 people in the room, when I know there are only 4." She explained calmly.

"Well I'm not- I couldn't be." Suki sputtered, sitting back down in her chair.

"How do you know for sure?" Toph asked.

"Did you- oh my, bad images!" Katara looked disgusted.

"Well yeah but, it could still be you Katara, or Mai for that matter." Suki reasoned.

"I heard my name?" Mai inquired.

"Never mind, go back to whatever you were doing." Toph said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Well did you?" Suki asked Katara.

"What? No! He's- no, just no." Katara said, mildly offended.

"Well that leaves you then, doesn't it?" Toph said.

"Wait. What day is it?" Suki asked, trying to reason her way out of her situation.

"The 20th." Katara responded.

Suki counted on her fingers. Her heart began to race and her breathing became rapid.

"Oh no. This can't be true!" Suki said, suddenly very worried.

"It's not that big of a deal. I mean you're 16, of marrying age. You _are _getting married soon enough." Katara said, trying to calm Suki down.

"You're right, but still! I just can't believe it. I'm pregnant…"

So thus concludes my chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter is fluff, you know the aforementioned gallivanting? Well that's what's to come. I'm almost finished with this story, and I'm excited to start writing the sequel. I'll post the two chapters at the same time so you can have a link to it. Anyway, have a nice day. :D


	15. Chapter 15: Shopping

Chapter 15:

Shopping

_Takes place at the same time as the previous chapter_.

Aang, Zuko, and Sokka walked down the cobblestone path, unaware of the serious conversation that was taking place 100 yards from them.

"How about some food?" Sokka asked, patting his stomach.

"We _just _ate! How could you possibly be hungry?" Zuko asked, incredulously.

Aang stopped walking and turned to Zuko.

"You haven't spent nearly as much time as I have with Sokka. He can eat his weight in meat and still be hungry!" Aang explained. Sokka nodded proudly. Zuko stared at Sokka, mouth agape.

They continued down the street, stopping at the meat vendor on the corner street. Aang gagged at the smell.

"Calm down Aang, at least the meat doesn't eat meat here." Sokka said, handing money over to the vendor. The vendor handed him some unidentifiable piece of meat on a stick.

Aang sighed and moved over next to Zuko. Sokka munched away happily on his meat as they headed for the shopping district.

"So what exactly is our goal for this little trip?" Zuko asked.

"I dunno, I was thinking about buying something for Katara." Aang shrugged his shoulders.

"I think I'm good with Suki right now. She's riding the 'I'm engaged' happiness wave. I don't have to do anything good for a while." Sokka smiled at himself.

"How about getting something for Mai?" Aang suggested.

"I never know what she wants is the problem. She doesn't like shells, or other girly stuff. It's hard to shop for her." Zuko scratched the back of his head and his voice sounded stressed.

"Well why don't you ask her to marry you? You _are _fire lord, why don't you have a fire lady yet? I thought for sure you were going to ask her to marry you before I asked Suki." Sokka asked with his mouth full.

Zuko opened his mouth to speak and shut it shortly afterward. They continued walking down the street towards the shopping district. They were about 5 more minutes away.

"I guess I really should ask her. Isn't it kind of tacky to ask her right after you did Sokka? Plus I don't have anything to give to her, and I don't know what to say!" Zuko started to get frantic.

Sokka laughed at Zuko's sudden onslaught of panic.

"Calm down," Sokka laughed. "It's not like you're asking her in 15 minutes. Why don't you buy her a ring or necklace?"

"I don't know if she'll like a ring or necklace. She's already got enough throwing knives. Do you know how many she keeps on her at one time? It's crazy!" Zuko got excited.

"How many?" Sokka asked, curious.

"Well I've counted 69, but there's probably more. She sleeps with 20 on her." Zuko smiled.

Sokka stopped walking and faced Zuko.

"That's… so… h-awesome!" Sokka prevented the catastrophe of calling Zuko's girlfriend hot.

Aang snickered to himself.

The boys were in the shopping district now, and they looked about as lost as foo-foo-cuddly-poops. Aang wandered into a jewelry store, and the other two followed like sheep.

Aang looked at racks of necklaces, bracelets, and rings. He wanted to buy Katara something with flowers on it, something like the necklace he had made her when they first met. As he perused the shop he found a basket with beads in it.

He picked a handful of beads up and let them slide through his fingers like sand. As he watched them fall, he noticed to beads with blue tropical flowers on them.

_These would make great beads for her hair loopies!_ Aang thought to himself. He picked up the two and showed them to Sokka.

"What do you think of these?" Aang asked, presenting the beads in front of Sokka's face.

"For… what, exactly?" Sokka asked, confused.

"I was going to buy them for Katara."

"I know that. What would she use two beads for?" Sokka responded.

"Her hair loopies!" Aang said, astounded that Sokka didn't pick up on his idea.

"Oh, yeah… sure." Sokka said, sounding distracted.

"What's the matter Sokka?" Aang asked, a concerned tone in his voice.

"It's nothing. Suki just seems a bit off… I'm worried that she'll get sick again."

"Oh don't worry Sokka! She's fine; you're just being a little ridiculous." Aang said lightheartedly.

"I guess you're right. We're going to be married soon, I should be happy!" Sokka said, trying to perk back up.

Zuko wandered back to Sokka and Aang with his hand closed over an object.

"Do you think Mai would like this?" Zuko asked, opening his hand to reveal a ring with a flower made of rubies.

Aang's eyes widened at the beauty of the ring. Its petals were made of rubies and the center was a collection of topaz stones. The ring itself was made of silver.

"Uh huh." Aang said with his mouth wide open.

"I think I'm going to buy it for her. It's not tacky is it?" Zuko asked, concerned Mai wouldn't like it.

Sokka and Aang shook their heads in disagreement with Zuko.

"How much is it?" Sokka asked.

"I'm fire lord, it doesn't matter how much it costs!" Zuko chuckled to himself.

"Shall we head out?" Sokka asked.

"Are you not buying anything for Suki?" Aang asked.

"Maybe later. I don't know." Sokka shrugged.

Zuko and Aang headed for the cashier.

"Do you want me to just buy the beads for Katara?" Zuko offered.

"No thank you Zuko, it's a kind offer but I can't accept it." Aang replied in a monkish manner.

"Too late!" Zuko smiled. He was in an unusually gracious mood.

Before Aang had time to refuse an offer a second time, Zuko had already paid the cashier and started to leave the store.

"But! You- no- Zuko!" Aang protested.

"You're wasting your breath little air bender." Zuko said as he left the store, Sokka trailed close behind.

Aang sputtered at Zuko, trying to somehow get him to un-pay for the beads. After a few minutes he gave up, realizing that he was just going to have to deal with Zuko being generous.

Sokka lead the way to a women's clothing shop. Zuko and Aang looked at each other skeptically and then proceeded to follow him inside.

"Can I… help you?" The shopkeeper tried to contain her laughter.

"Yes I am looking for a new outfit." Sokka replied.

"You do realize this is a _women's_ clothing shop, right?" The shopkeeper giggled.

"Not for me!" Sokka flailed his arms, embarrassed. "It's for my fiancé." He said, much calmer than 10 seconds before.

"I see." The shopkeeper smiled. "Anything in particular you are looking for?"

"Not really, I just wanted to buy her something pretty Sokka replied.

"How about this?" The shopkeeper held up a pale yellow dress. It was fairly loose fitting, with a belt at the waist to emphasize her form.

"What do you guys think?" Sokka gestured to the dress.

"It looks good to me!" Aang said.

"I guess so; I don't really know what she likes." Zuko shrugged.

"What else do you have?" Sokka asked.

The shopkeeper turned toward the back of the store and walked to the rack of dresses. A thought hit Sokka.

"Hey Aang, should I buy her a dress or anything right now? We need to talk about where we are going to live and stuff like that. I think we should go back to the apartment and plan all this out."

Hearing Sokka's comment to Aang, the shopkeeper returned empty-handed and leaned against the counter.

"Sorry…" Sokka said.

"Don't worry about it." The shopkeeper replied with a smile.

"Shall we head home?" Zuko suggested, walking out of the store.

Aang and Sokka followed, waving good-bye to the shopkeeper.

"We've only been out for half an hour." Aang said.

"Why don't we do something fun back at the apartment?" Sokka asked.

"Sounds good to me!" Zuko said cheerily.

Aang sighed and slouched his shoulders. He didn't want to leave the market. Everyone was acting a little weird lately, and he liked being in a different atmosphere.

"I suppose we can go." Aang said.

As the boys neared the intersection of the main market street and the street the apartment was off of, Sokka paused.

"What is it?" Zuko asked.

Sokka was silent for a few moments. Then he suddenly yelled, "Race you!"

All at once, the three boys tore off as fast as they possibly could. They rounded the corner and knocked over a cart full of cabbage.

"My cabbages!" The merchant exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Aang called back as he continued running in the opposite direction.

None of the three boys knew why they were racing, but they all were having fun doing it. As they ran down the street, they dodged in between groups of people, frequently knocking things over. Lucky for them, they didn't break anything.

As they reached 50 yards from their apartment, Aang bended an air scooter and cheated his way to victory.

Zuko and Sokka caught up with him a few seconds later.

"No fair!" Sokka panted.

"Yeah, you cheated!" Zuko agreed.

Aang shrugged and opened the door, intruding on the very serious conversation.

"Are we interrupting?" Aang asked.

"No, everything's fine." Suki said as calmly as she could.

Zuko sat down next to Mai on the couch. Sokka walked over to Suki, who was standing up.

"What's the matter?" Sokka asked.

"Nothing, well- I'll tell you later." Suki said, sitting down in the armchair.

"What's got you guys out of breath?" Katara asked.

"We had an idea." Aang replied, panting.

"What is it?" Katara asked, intrigued.

"Truth or dare!" Aang grinned.

End of chapter 15! So this was really poorly written but I just HAD to post a new chapter. Yeah, so I know I said that this was almost the end? I lied. There's going to be like 10 more chapters, however 5 of them are all taking place at the same time. I hope you like it, even though I promised much gallivanting. Next chapter should be much more interesting. I've already started working on it, and it has a lot of flashbacks and a lot of crazy stuff. Sorry for the lateness, we are moving so life's been a bit crazy!


	16. Chapter 16: Truth or Dare

Chapter 16

Truth or dare

"Awesome dinner Katara!" Suki smiled.

"Thanks! It's nice to know that _someone_ appreciates all my hard work." Katara replied, shooting a dirty look to her brother.

"When are we going to play truth or dare?" Aang asked impatiently.

"How about now?" Sokka suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement. The group was walking from the Jasmine Dragon back to the apartment. Sokka opened the door to the apartment and held it for everyone.

"Are we sitting in chairs or on the floor?" Suki asked.

"I vote a circle on the floor." Katara said, walking past the furniture to the empty space behind it.

Sokka and Zuko quickly moved the couch to make room for the circle. Zuko took his spot next to Mai and Sokka took his spot next in between Suki and Katara. Toph sat in between Zuko and Aang. Mai and Suki wound up sitting next to each other, but they were too engrossed in their boyfriends to care.

"So, how about some rules?" Katara suggested.

"No rules!" Sokka smiled evilly. Suki raised her eyebrows at Sokka's comment, pondering the possible outcomes of what he just said.

"Who starts?" Katara asked.

"You!" Toph said excitedly.

"Toph, truth or dare?" Katara asked kindly.

"I'm going to give you what I assume is a dirty look." Toph said, unimpressed by the fact that she was first to be asked. "Truth." She sighed.

"Ok, this one's an easy one." Katara began. "If you could be melon lord again, would you?"

"Wow, that's a ridiculous question. The only possible answer is HELL YES!" Toph grinned.

The whole group except for Mai and Zuko laughed. They were engaged in some intense face-sucking.

"My turn!" Toph rubbed her hands together wickedly. "Twinkletoes! Truth or dare?"

"Dare?" He said hesitantly.

"I dare you to kiss Mai!" She laughed maniacally.

Mai didn't even hear her name being called.

"Do I _have_ to?" Aang whined.

"Yes." Toph said, her voice stern.

Aang got up and leaned over Mai. He puckered his lips and she suddenly noticed he was there. She leapt up and had 3 knives in her hand in half a second.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled.

"I was uh- dared to uh, kiss you?" Aang stuttered.

"If you're not going to pay attention, why are you even here?" Toph defended Aang.

"Fine, we'll pay attention." Mai said, sitting back down.

Aang returned to his spot next to Katara, he smacked his hand against his forehead repeatedly in shame.

"Ok, I guess it's my turn." Aang said grudgingly. "Suki, truth or dare?"

"Judging by the way your last dare went, I'm going to say truth." She laughed.

"Ok, I've got a good one, why don't you tell us your life up until we met you?"

"Long story or abridged?" Suki clarified.

"Long story of course." He smiled.

"Ok. Here it goes!" Suki took a breath of air. "My parents came from two different nations. My mom was from the Earth Kingdom and I don't know where my dad was from. All I know is that it wasn't the Earth Kingdom. I guess I'll tell you about my dad first, since there isn't too much to tell. All I really know about my dad is that he worked on airships. I remember sitting with him when he would build them and he would tell me how everything worked. I could barely see the controls, but he drilled everything into my brain."

"So is that how you learned to pilot an airship?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Yeah, pretty crazy huh?" Suki smiled proudly. "Anyway, continuing on. When I was 6, he was called to war. The fire nation made him hand over the designs for the airships before he could get them to the Earth King. We had been living in Omashu, but my mom decided to take me and move to Kyoshi Island. She heard it was completely safe, and decided that it would be the best place for us to live. After about a year living on the island, many of the residents got an incurable disease, my mother included. A few days after contracting the disease, she passed away."

"That's so sad!" Katara said sympathetically. "I remember when I…"

"WE KNOW!" Toph interrupted.

Suki continued her narrative, "Having no parents to live with, I went to train with the Kyoshi Warriors. At only 7 years old, I was the youngest member of the group. I had the most adorable little fans and outfit! They taught me everything about being a Kyoshi Warrior and when I was about 12, the Head Kyoshi Warrior, Yong Gan, was swimming in the bay. Unfortunately she was eaten by the Unagi. Being the most advanced in the group, I was named the head Kyoshi Warrior. And that pretty much brings us up to the present."

"That's quite the story!" Aang said, clapping in appreciation.

"Thanks!" Suki smiled.

"How come you never told me any of this?" Sokka asked, slightly offended.

"You never asked!" She giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "My turn now! Mai, truth or dare?"

"Truth I guess." Mai sighed in an I'm-too-cool-for-this manner.

"How many knives _do_ you keep on you at one time?" Suki asked curiously.

"Want to count?" The corner of Mai's mouth pulled upward, and she looked at Suki in a seductive manner.

"Yes!" Sokka said eagerly. Suki quickly punched him in the arm he was supporting himself with, causing him to fall.

"No thanks." Suki looked frightened.

"Well to answer your question, as a general rule I keep 117 on me. Usually around 20 when I sleep." Mai said flatly.

"How- I never counted that many!" Zuko exclaimed.

"You need to get better at counting!" Mai laughed and kissed her boyfriend passionately.

"How about I practice tonight?" Zuko whispered into her ear.

Mai giggled and nodded.

"Toph, truth or dare?" Mai asked.

"Dare." Toph grinned as she spoke the dangerous word.

"Ok brave one. I dare you to kiss Sokka." Mai was satisfied with herself for coming up with this dare.

Toph contained her excitement, as she calmly moved over to Sokka. She leaned in and kissed, who she thought was Sokka, on the lips.

"Hey Toph?" Sokka asked.

Toph froze, petrified by the fact that she just kissed the wrong person.

"Suki's _my_ fiancé!" He laughed.

Suki laughed as well, not bothered by the fact that Toph just kissed her.

"Is there something I should know?" Zuko asked, half-worried half-amused.

"No." Toph said sharply.

The whole group except for Toph laughed.

"Oh lighten up Toph, it's not that bad!" Suki laughed lightheartedly.

"Alright Sokka! Truth or dare?" Toph said with a grudging tone.

"Well based on the tone of your voice, you sound a little vindictive at the moment. I'm going to have to say truth."

"Chicken." Toph muttered. "Well let me think for a second. I had a good dare!" Toph stroked an imaginary beard.

The group was sitting in couples; Suki and Sokka were cuddling as usual. Aang and Katara were holding hands, both of them shy to show affection in the presence of others. Zuko and Mai were, as always, having an intense make out session.

"Ok, I got one. If you could change anything about Suki, what would it be?"

"That's an easy question! I would change…" Sokka paused and looked down at Suki. Suki looked up and gave him "the look".

"I would change nothing." Sokka kissed his beloved on the forehead.

"How predictable." Mai said, disgusted.

"If you're going to be like that, why don't you just leave?" Katara said with a certain ferocity in her voice.

"Fine, we've got better things to do anyway." Zuko said indignantly. He stood up and helped Mai as well. He put his arm around her shoulder and the two left the room.

"The room got a whole lot less sulky." Suki laughed as soon as she heard the door shut.

"Very true." Katara agreed.

"Why don't we kick this up a notch?" Toph said excitedly.

Suki yawned, "Why don't we just go to bed?"

"Yeah, I'm quite tired." Katara agreed.

"Fine, party poopers." Toph crossed her arms across her chest and stood up.

Sokka stood up as well and helped Suki up. Aang did the same with Katara.

"See you tomorrow!" Suki said to Katara.

"Goodnight!" Katara replied.

The two couples went to their respective bedrooms, and Toph headed over to the Jasmine Dragon. She was wide awake and wanted to talk.

Sokka and Suki cuddled in bed next to each other.

"You said earlier that you were going to tell me what was bothering you." Sokka said.

Suki sighed, hoping that he had forgotten.

"I don't quite know how to put this but I'm…"

So I worked like all day on this chapter. Hope you thought it was hilarious! In case you were wondering, Yong Gan = brave/courageous. I'm learning Mandarin Chinese, so yeah. I have a lot planned for the sequel that I just set up in this chapter. This chapter was a little rushed but hopefully the quality is good. (: as always, please review!


	17. Chapter 17: Conversations: Zuko and Mai

Chapter 17:

Conversations: Zuko and Mai

The gloomy couple reached the top of the stairs to their apartment just as Toph walked through the front door of the Jasmine Dragon.

Zuko opened the door and guided Mai through it. The two pale figures walked to their shared bedroom in silence.

"What do you say to knife counting practice?" Mai suggested. Her tone was reserved but her face was seductive and excited.

"You're on." Zuko said, his tone also reserved. Underneath his calm, cool voice, Zuko was burning with passion and desire.

Zuko shut the door to their bedroom behind him. As soon as the door latched, passion consumed them as they passionately kissed each other.

Zuko tore off Mai's clothes. The red and black fabric whooshed and sent cool air around Mai's ankles as it hit the ground.

Mai grabbed the bottom of Zuko's shirt, and he assisted her in taking it off. The dark fabric joined Mai's dress in the growing pile on the floor.

Mai was down to her barest clothing; most of her knives were exposed.

Zuko laid Mai down on the bed and began counting the knives. As he counted, he tossed the knives in a pile next to their clothes. Several of the knives stuck in the floor.

After he had located 116 of the 117 knives he paused.

"Where's the last one?" Zuko asked, confused.

"Not telling." Mai smiled.

Zuko spotted the last one moments after asking the question.

The flash of the sharp metal shone from the inside of her upper thigh.

"Found it!" Zuko said proudly.

Zuko removed the knife with his teeth as gently as possible. He'd never hear the end of it if he accidentally cut her. The knife made a satisfying noise as it left its holster.

"When would you ever use this, or get to it?" Zuko asked after he tossed it in the mountain of knives.

Mai shrugged and then sat up. Zuko sat down on the bed next to her. Mai wrapped her arms around Zuko and kissed up and down his neck.

"You did well." Mai laughed.

"What do you think we should do now?" Zuko said in between kisses.

"I know what we should do." Mai said, she threw Zuko underneath her. She sat up only long enough to take off her remaining clothes.

"What…" Zuko asked.

"I think you'll catch on." Mai laughed.

"That was awesome!" Mai panted.

"You're telling me!" Zuko breathed heavily as well.

Mai got up to put on her clothes and Zuko followed.

After they were dressed again, this time for sleeping, Zuko sat down next to Mai on the edge of the soft mattress.

"I love you Zuko." Mai said, looking into his fiery golden eyes.

"I love you more than anything." Zuko replied, taking Mai's hand in his own.

Mai cuddled up to Zuko. This was the most passion and emotion either of them had shown in a long time.

"I know this is a little nosey, but what were you and Katara, Suki, and Toph talking about?"

"To be honest, I wasn't paying that close attention. From what I _did_ hear, I don't know if she wants me to tell." Mai replied, slightly uneasy.

"Don't know if who doesn't want me to know what?" Zuko's curiosity burned.

"She hasn't even told Sokka yet, so… I don't know." Mai looked away.

"Katara? Or Suki?" Zuko prodded.

"It Suki… she's…" Mai's voice trailed off.

"She's?" Zuko asked.

"Pregnant." Mai blurted out. "But you have to swear that you don't say a _word_! If I find out that you said anything to _anyone_, I'll kill you."

Zuko nodded. He fully believed Mai would kill him.

"I swear. How did this happen?" Zuko asked.

Mai sighed. "By doing what you and I just finished doing! Geeze Zuko, you're 18 you should know that!"

"I know how… I meant when!" Zuko raised his voice.

"Ssh! You're uncle is still downstairs. Probably a week or two ago, I don't really know." Mai explained.

"That's great!" Zuko got excited.

Thinking of a baby made Zuko remember when he was small and Azula was only a year old. He made a face that was a mixture of pain and happiness. He remembered how he and his mother used to make sandcastles and his father and Azula would play in the water.

"You look like you're about to throw up." Mai said, her voice concerned. She placed her hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"No I'm fine. I was just thinking about when Azula and I were really small… when my mom was still around." His tone had shifted from excited to depressed in a matter of seconds. This didn't bother Mai, as it was usual of Zuko to be moody.

"Don't think about that Zuko, you know it only makes you upset. I know I seem all reserved and emotionless, but I hate to see you like that."

"Really?" Zuko seemed surprised.

"Yes. It really bothers me. Why don't you think about our future? Maybe we'll have little fire bender babies some day." Mai ran her thin fingers through Zuko's shaggy black hair.

"Well that means we have to be married first." Zuko countered.

"Not necessarily." Mai replied.

Zuko put his hand in his pocket and got down on one knee on the ground in front of Mai. Zuko took his hand out of his pocket and closed the ring in his hand, so Mai couldn't see it.

"Zuko, what are you doing?" Mai asked, curious.

"Mai?" Zuko asked, his voice trembled.

"Yes Zuko?" Mai's voice squeaked.

"Will you… marry me?"

"Yes!" Mai exclaimed.

Zuko showed the ring to Mai and she gasped.

"Zuko- it's beautiful! Thank you Zuko, I couldn't have asked for anything more!"

Mai sat straight up in bed, and Zuko stirred.

"What's the matter?" Zuko grumbled.

"Nothing, I just had a really weird dream." Mai mumbled, and she rubbed her face. She noticed a lack of ring on her finger.

"Ok, just go back to sleep."

"I have a question."

"What?" Zuko sounded irritated.

"Did we, you know, do it?" Mai asked.

"Yes, it was awesome. Now go to sleep!"

End of the chapter! These next few chapters are a little series that all happen at the same time, just to clear up any possible confusion. Sorry for the dirtiness, it's Zuko and Mai so that kind of entails dirty mushy stuff. Hoped you liked it, or gagged your way through it. I did XD. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can.


	18. Chapter 18: Conversations: Aang & Katara

Chapter 18:

Conversations: Aang and Katara

Aang climbed into bed next to Katara and cuddled up next to her. Aang wrapped his arm around Katara's waist, locking fingers with her.

"What were you guys talking about earlier?" Aang asked.

"What do you mean? Toph, Mai, Suki and I?" Katara clarified.

"Yeah. When we walked in, you all seemed so serious." Aang explained.

"I don't know if she wants me to tell you." Katara felt uneasy talking about this.

"I won't tell anyone. Not even Momo." Aang laughed a little.

"Promise?" Katara didn't quite believe him; Momo was quite the chatterbox.

"I'll make you an airbender's promise." Aang said matter-of-factly.

"I know you won't tell, I just don't know if she wants you to know." Katara looked down at their hands.

"Don't know if who wants me to not know what?" Aang prodded.

"Its Suki." Katara sighed.

"Is she sick _again_?" Aang asked, face-palming with his free hand.

"No, she's not sick. It's much better than being sick. In fact, I don't think she was sick- I think it was just a the cause of her current situation." Katara tried to answer as vaguely as possible.

"Why can't you just tell me?" Aang asked impatiently.

"Because I don't want Suki to get mad at me!" Katara replied, trying to get Aang off her case.

"What could be _such_ a big deal that Suki would get mad at you for telling me? I mean, come on Katara, I'm the Avatar. I'm the most reliable and trustworthy person on the planet." Aang tried to reason his way into knowing Suki's secret.

"Ugh, fine I'll tell you. Suki's… I changed my mind. Never mind." Katara said that to deliberately make Aang crazier about knowing.

"Katara!" Aang said loudly.

"That was my ear you just yelled into." Katara said, not amused.

"Sorry." Aang replied.

"I'll tell you…" Katara paused. "Suki's pregnant."

Aang leapt several feet in the air.

"What?" He exclaimed.

"Come back down." Katara smiled at her boyfriend's reaction.

"That's awesome!" Aang smiled as he returned to the bed from eight feet in the air.

"I know, isn't it just?" Katara smiled and felt excited that she was going to be an aunt.

"Sokka's so lucky!" Aang said, sitting next to Katara.

"Why is that? He doesn't really like babies." Katara laughed. "He finds them too squishy and gooey."

Aang chuckled. "He's right; they are squishy and gooey. At the same time, they're fun! Plus he got to… you know…"

"What?" Katara stared at Aang blankly.

"He got to do the thing that we've never done." Aang said, trying not to directly say _the word_.

Katara immediately realized what Aang was talking about. She couldn't believe that _that_ was one of the first things that came to his mind.

"You have a very dirty mind!" Katara looked scornfully at him. "Of all the things you could think of, you think of _that_?"

Aang tried to look ashamed, but he didn't feel bad at all.

"Do you realize what this means Aang?" Katara asked. Aang thought he was in trouble.

"No…?" Aang hesitated, thinking that now he was going to be in trouble for having a dirty mind and not knowing the answer to her question.

"This means you're going to be an uncle!" Katara said this excitedly. Aang felt a wave of relief rush over him. Katara must not have been as upset as he'd thought. She'd been prone to overreacting about small things before they came to Ba Sing Se.

"Awesome!" Aang felt really excited. "Does Sokka know yet?"

"No. I don't know when Suki's going to tell him, but it better be soon because everyone's leaving to go back home in a few days."

"Yeah, I know." Aang said calmly. "Speaking of leaving Ba Sing Se in a few days, where are _we_ going to live?" Aang asked.

"I never even thought about that." Katara said, drumming her fingers on her knee.

" We better figure it out soon, or else we may have some issues." Aang smiled and laughed lightly.

"Well, we could go back to the South Pole, what do you think about that Aang?" Katara suggested.

"I don't know. It's a little bit cold for my taste. Plus I think Sokka and Suki are going to live there." Aang didn't know where he wanted to live, but at the moment he didn't want to live at the South Pole.

"All the more reason to go! We can be close to family and Suki and I can help prepare for the baby." Katara pushed.

"I don't know…" Aang didn't know what to think.

"Well where do you suggest we live then?" Katara sounded mildly irritated.

"I don't know, just not the South Pole." Aang shrugged.

'What's wrong with the South Pole? You stayed there for 100 years!" Katara's irritation level was increasing by the minute.

"Well when you've decided, I'll make sure not to go with you." Katara was visibly upset; her eyes were tearing up, and she was tense all over.

"What's your problem Katara?" Aang asked, hurt by Katara's words.

"My problem? _You're _the one who has the problem! There's _nothing_ wrong with the South Pole." Katara was furious.

Aang got up calmly and left.

"Where do you think you're going?" Katara screamed.

"You are not the boss of me, and I think remaining here for the time being is a bad idea. We are both tired, and I don't want to say anything that I will regret." Aang didn't wait for a response from Katara; he turned around and shut the door behind him.

"You get back here right now!" Katara shouted. The deafening silence that replied only made her more furious.

She flopped down onto the bed and buried her face in her pillow. She screamed into her pillow for several minutes before she realized that she had just completely overreacted.

Katara stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She walked over towards the door and opened it quietly, trying to follow Aang.

She looked around the main room, only to find darkness and lonely furniture.

She stealthily moved outside of the house to the courtyard in front of the house and saw Aang sitting on the side of the fountain.

Katara walked quietly to Aang and sat down next to him gently.

"Aang?" Katara spoke softly.

Aang didn't say anything; he just turned away from her.

"I'm sorry." Katara tried to speak to him.

Aang realized he was being just as childish as Katara and turned back around to face a sorrowful Katara.

"I shouldn't have acted that way. It's unfair and childish of me to expect that you do everything that I want all the time. I shouldn't blow up over every little thing that you do, and I'm sorry." Katara tried not to cry again.

"It's ok Katara. I'm sorry for saying the South Pole wasn't nice. I just don't want to spend my whole life there. I guess that's what I meant to say earlier, it just didn't come out that way."

Katara smiled at him and Aang hugged her tightly.

"So I guess I never really got the question answered." Katara said.

Aang let go of Katara and pulled his knees underneath himself.

"I suppose we could live at the South Pole. If you want to be with your family, then that's ok with me. I mean it's not like _I _have any family, right?"

"Are you sure that's ok with you?" Katara asked.

"Yes. Plus, if Suki and Sokka decide to move to the South Pole again, then it'll be much easier to travel as a group." Aang smiled.

Aang stood up and took Katara's hand in his and they walked back to their room.

Aang cuddled up next to Katara and put his arm around her, holding her tight.

"Goodnight Aang." Katara said softly.

"'Night Katara."

So I'm sorry it took FOREVER and a day to get this updated, but I've had a million things to do. We're trying to move and I have school, blah blah blah, but I hope you liked it! Oh, sorry for any continuity errors [if there are any] I haven't really even thought about the story since November. Well, Merry Christmas [or whatever holiday you celebrate], and I shall try and post more soon. (:


	19. Chapter 19: Conversations: Iroh & Toph

Chapter 19

Conversations: Iroh and Toph

Toph entered the Jasmine Dragon, where Iroh was standing behind the counter. It was quite late at night, and everyone else was in bed.

"Hello old friend! Come, have a seat." Iroh said warmly.

"Hey Iroh." Toph sighed and sat on one of the tall chairs at the counter.

"What has you upset?" Iroh leaned forward and rested his arms on the counter across from Toph.

Toph turned her head away from him.

"It's stupid stuff that shouldn't even affect me." Toph gazed away from Iroh.

"That doesn't mean it's not important to you." Iroh put his hand on her arm.

Toph turned to face Iroh again.

"Now, tell me what's on your mind." Iroh smiled. He knew it had no affect on her, but it didn't matter.

"Do I have to?" Toph resisted.

Iroh turned away to get Toph and himself tea.

While pouring it, he responded, "No, but I figured you came in here to talk about what was troubling you."

"Yeah…" Toph sighed. "I guess you're right."

Iroh served her the tea, and continued to lean on the counter.

"Take you're time. I have all night." Iroh said warmly. Toph was much more pleasant to talk with than Zuko, who was almost always in a bad mood.

"I guess its Suki and Sokka." Toph took a sip of her tea.

"Yes, Suki has had quite the difficult past few days hasn't she?" Iroh chuckled slightly.

"It's not that. I'm used to that kind of crazy stuff happening to me all the time." Toph smiled slightly.

"Alright, then what is the matter?" Iroh said, sipping his boiling hot tea.

"They're getting married. That's the problem." Toph sighed and held warm cup in her hands.

"That's a problem? Wouldn't you be happy for them?" Iroh sounded confused.

"I _should _be, but I'm not. Whenever I think about it, it just makes me upset." Toph sounded ashamed of herself.

"Now why do you think that is?" Iroh questioned, asking very therapist like questions.

"I don't know. I feel jealous of Suki. I don't know why though." Toph took a sip of her tea.

"Do you perhaps have unrecognized feelings for Sokka?" Iroh said bluntly.

"No!" She immediately replied.

"Maybe…" She paused.

"Yes." Her voice fell as she said it.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Iroh tried to console her. "Sometimes you feel things that aren't necessarily convenient, or wanted for that matter." He laughed.

Toph gazed down at the counter, unresponsive to Iroh's words.

"Like me and June, that bounty hunter. It would never have worked, and that's ok with me." Iroh smiled and laughed.

The side of Toph's mouth curled slightly into a smile.

"Well I don't even understand why I like him? He's related to _Katara_. I barely even want to be in the same room as her." Toph scoffed as she said her name.

"You can't judge someone based on their siblings. Zuko is the poster child for that." Iroh smiled and laughed again. He was quite happy even if Toph was rather melancholy.

"Yeah, I guess your right. But that still doesn't answer the question. Why do I like Sokka?" Toph had finished her tea, and Iroh began pouring her another one.

"I don't know. That's a question you have to answer for yourself. Do you have to know why you like him, or is there a different underlying problem."

"I don't know… or care anymore. I know that I'll never be with him, for unknown reasons and the newest one." Toph continued sipping her hot tea.

"There's more than their marriage? Oh my." Iroh sounded empathetic with Toph.

"Yeah. Suki's going to have a baby." Toph said it with a resentful tone.

"Oh really?" Iroh sounded happy, and realized that Toph was visibly upset. "Well that's very fortunate for them, but I'm sure this isn't as bad as it seems. Sometimes the worst part of the storm is just before the skies clear."

"You're probably right. I'll find someone that I like more. I know it." Toph sounded much more happy and confident.

"Now this new baby is really something special! I'm quite excited for them!" Iroh sounded like it was his own child.

"Yeah, me too! That might be me someday. If I find someone who isn't like twinkle toes. Whose as tough as I am." Toph laughed.

"That might be difficult, but I'm sure you'll find him." Iroh finished his tea and placed the cup on the counter.

"It'll happen sometime. I've got plenty of time, I mean I'm only 13." Toph laughed. Iroh always knew how to cheer her up. He also always seemed to know the right thing to say to make someone feel better.

"Indeed you do."

They heard a crash from upstairs, and then a laugh.

"What was that?" Iroh sounded confused.

"You don't want to know. I'll leave it at Mai and Zuko. Use your imagination. Well don't… that may not be a good idea." Toph smiled and laughed. She was in a much better mood now than 10 minutes ago.

"Thanks for the counseling and advice." Toph said, hopping down from the tall chair.

"Any time old friend." Iroh said warmly.

Toph waived as she left the Jasmine Dragon to go back to her room.

All finished! This was written while I was sick, so pardon the crappiness. The story is almost done, and I will be working on the sequel. Hopefully you liked this one enough to read the next one. Tell next time, have fun on winter holidays!


	20. Chapter 20: Conversations: Suki & Sokka

Chapter 20:

Conversations: Suki and Sokka

Suki lay awake next to Sokka. He tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. They continued like this for about 15 minutes until Suki turned over to face Sokka.

"This isn't working." She laughed.

"What." Sokka sounded groggy.

"You're tossing and turning and keeping both of us awake you goof." She smiled at him.

"Well then why don't we stay awake and talk?" Sokka suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Suki smiled and sat up.

Sokka followed her movements. He crossed his legs and then pulled her into his lap. Sokka's arms fit perfectly around Suki, and she cuddled up closer to him.

"What do you want to talk about?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know… _you're _the one keeping _me_ up."

Sokka tickled Suki. She giggled and screamed uncontrollably, accidentally kicking Sokka in the face.

"Sorry." Suki giggled.

"It's my own fault." Sokka smiled down at her, as she repositioned herself in his arms.

"Now what was it you wanted to talk about?" Suki asked.

"Well… I kind of had this burning question in my mind all day." Sokka replied.

"What is it?" Suki asked, hoping it wasn't what they were talking about earlier.

"What were you and everybody else talking about earlier?" Sokka asked.

A sinking feeling overwhelmed Suki. A million thoughts raced in her head. Should she lie? Should she tell the truth? What if he wasn't ready for a baby? What if he didn't want to marry her anymore? What if she had to go back to Kyoshi by herself?

She closed her eyes and tensed up.

"What's wrong Suki?" Sokka sounded panicked.

Suki exhaled and calmed herself down. Sokka would love her no matter what.

"I don't know how to put this." Suki's voice sounded strained.

"Just try the best you can." Sokka sounded reassuring.

"I'm pregnant Sokka."

"What?" Sokka leapt up.

"I'm sorry Sokka!" Suki burst into tears.

"Why are you sorry? This is great!" Sokka picked Suki up in his arms and cradled her.

"I- I thought you would be upset!" Suki still sounded upset.

"Why in the world would you think that? It's ridiculous." Sokka laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. It is." Suki laughed.

"A baby…" Sokka sounded amazed.

"I thought you didn't like babies very much." Suki questioned.

"Generally, yes." Sokka sat down, still holding Suki close to him. "But this is _our_ baby, and I'll love it regardless."

"Even if it leaks baby goo?" Suki laughed.

"Even if it leaks baby goo." Sokka wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Good." Suki kissed him.

"So how long does it take?" Sokka asked.

"What?" Suki was confused.

"You know… for it to… hatch." Sokka sounded ashamed at his stupidity.

Suki burst out laughing. "Hatch? That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Did Katara ever tell you _anything_?" Suki couldn't stop laughing.

"No…" Sokka laughed too. "I never needed or wanted to know."

"9 months or so." Suki finally answered his question.

"So how much longer?" Sokka was genuinely curious.

"I don't know… 7 or 8 months?" Suki really didn't know.

"I guess it'll get here when it wants." Sokka placed his hand on her stomach.

"So there's a real… _human_… thing in there?" Sokka was still amazed.

"I would assume it's human… although it probably doesn't look like it." Suki laughed.

He rubbed her stomach gently, still trying to grasp that he was going to be a _Dad_.

"Where are we going to live when we go back in 3 days?" Sokka asked.

"I don't really know. Did you want to live on Kyoshi? I mean I can't really fight or train while I'm pregnant. It could hurt our baby." Suki was torn between her "family" at Kyoshi, and staying at the South Pole with her in-laws.

"Well I think Aang and Katara are going to move to the South Pole, why don't we move down there with them? Then Katara and Gran-Gran can help you with the baby."

"Could we still visit Kyoshi?" Suki sounded worried.

"We could have a place at both! Spend winters on Kyoshi and summers at the South Pole, or float freely between houses? It doesn't matter to me."

"I guess the South Pole sounds good. I wonder if I'll still be the head of the Kyoshi warriors. I have to name a new head, or die, for there to be a new head, so I guess I'm still leader."

"Lets hope you don't die." Sokka smiled.

"Yeah. You know I'm going to blow up like an elephant koi, right?" Suki said.

"Yeah but it doesn't matter. I love you no matter what. Fat, skinny, raging pissed, or happy." Sokka sounded heartfelt.

"Aww thanks." Suki hugged Sokka and kissed him on the lips.

"Any time. Now you know I have to be twice as protective as before, right?" Sokka asked.

Suki rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I won't do anything stupid, I promise. And just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean I can't defend myself. At least for the first few months." She smiled.

"I won't be able to help myself. You know that." Sokka twirled a piece of her hair.

Toph was returning from the Jasmine Dragon, and walked past their door.

"Stop being so lovey-dovey! It makes me want to throw up!" Toph yelled from the main room.

"She doesn't understand." Suki smiled. "However, she's right. We are lovey-dovey to the point of gag-iness."

"Who cares?" Sokka smiled as he kissed her on the forehead.

"I don't, but oh well. Let's talk baby stuff." Suki sounded excited.

"What kind of baby stuff?" Sokka asked.

"Well how do they keep the babies warm at the South Pole? It's probably different than on Kyoshi."

"I don't know!" He replied. "I never kept track of this stuff when I lived there."

Suki sighed. "I guess I better go talk to Katara. She'll probably know more about this than you."

"Is that a bad thing?" Sokka sounded mock offended.

"No." Suki laughed. "You make a much better warrior than mother."

"Thanks. I'm sure you're going to be as good of a mother as you are a warrior." Sokka replied.

"Thanks." Suki yawned. "I think its time for me to go to bed."

"Yeah, I think that's a phenomenal idea." He yawned.

Sokka lifted Suki out of his lap and tucked her in. He crawled into bed next to her just in time to hear the front door slam.

"What was that?" Suki asked, her voice slightly panicked.

"Katara." Sokka said. "'nuff said."

Sokka put his arm around her and both were fast asleep within a matter of minutes.

All finished! I had fun writing this chapter, and I think the crossover between the chapters is cool. Not to pat myself on the back lol. Yeah so the story is almost done. 3 days left until its over haha. Then I start on the sequel! Yay ^.^ Happy New Year everyone! Well except to those who are waiting until Chinese new year… in which case, have fun on winter break? Lol. Hopefully everyone had a good Diwali, Ramadan, Christmas, and Hanukkah!


	21. Chapter 21: Morning

Chapter 21:

Morning

It was several hours past dawn; the sun indicated that it was around 9 am. Suki leapt up out of bed and ran straight for the bathroom.

"What's wrong Suki?" Sokka said groggily.

There was no reply, only coughing. Sokka rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to check on Suki.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Suki was bent over the toilet bowl coughing and throwing up.

"Go away. This is really unattractive." Suki half-laughed.

"I don't care." He smiled and moved closer to hold back her hair.

"Thanks Sokka." Suki continued to throw up for the next 5 minutes.

"Are you done yet?" Sokka laughed, still holding her hair in his hand.

"Yeah I think so." She smiled, then her eyes suddenly bulged and she threw up all over Sokka's feet.

"Oh my- I'm _so_ sorry Sokka!" Suki looked as if she were going to cry.

"It's not a big deal… why don't we clean this up?" Sokka shrugged and grabbed a towel.

He began to mop up the puke and Suki grabbed another towel to help Sokka.

"Sorry." Suki sounded so guilty it was rather pathetic.

"It's not a big deal! Calm down, there's no reason to feel bad." Sokka said as he finished mopping up the puke. He went over to the sink and washed his hands, as did Suki.

They both got dressed and brushed their hair and teeth. Suki put on her betrothal necklace and finished pulling up her hair. Sokka put his arm around Suki as they walked out to the main room.

Katara, Aang, and Toph were sitting on the couches and armchairs sipping hot tea that Iroh had provided for them.

"Good morning everyone." Suki smiled and waved.

"Good morning Suki! Good morning Sokka!" Aang cheerfully greeted the two.

"Morning guys." Toph said. Her feet were perched on the table and she had one arm behind her head and the other hand was holding her steaming hot tea.

Aang got up from the armchair to give to Suki and joined Katara on the couch.

"Thanks Aang." Suki smiled at him as she sat down on the chair.

Iroh had brought enough tea on the tray for Sokka and Suki when they decided to arise from the dead.

Sokka handed Suki a cup of tea and stood behind Suki's chair since there was not enough room for him to sit.

"Don't drink it too fast- you don't want to burn it." Sokka whispered into Suki's ear, fearing they would let the secret out.

"We already know Sokka." Toph said.

"Damn you and your good hearing!" Sokka said grudgingly. "Wait- EVERYBODY KNOWS?" Sokka almost spilled his tea all over Suki.

"Yeah… sorry to burst your bubble." Aang said apologetically.

"Why- how- but…" Sokka sputtered.

"Are you going to finish any of these sentences and questions?" Toph said sarcastically.

"_I'm_ the meat and sarcasm guy, not you Toph." He scolded. "Suki, how does everyone know?"

"Girls talk Sokka. Then you boys ask questions and bother us until we answer them. _You_ of all people should know that."

"I do- but you know I'm a little hurt that I didn't know until last night and I seem to be the last one to know."

"I didn't know until really late last night Sokka." Aang chimed in.

"Whatever." Sokka set down his tea and crossed his arms angrily.

"Oh calm down Sokka. Who's the one being hormonal?" Suki teased.

Sokka remained in his grumpy position while the conversation carried on.

"So we kind of need to discuss who's going to what part of the world." Suki began.

"Well I can find my own way home to Gai Pan. Don't worry about me." Toph said, her hair still carelessly in front of her face.

"We were planning on going to the South Pole." Katara said to Suki.

"That's what we were thinking too. We thought that we would stay in the South Pole until we had the baby so you and Gran Gran can help me, and then we'll move between the South Pole and Kyoshi." Suki explained.

"Sounds good to me." Katara said, finishing her tea.

"Come on Mr. Grumpy-gills we should go grab something for breakfast." Suki said, putting her empty cup back on the tray.

"Fine." Sokka said sourly.

Suki began to stand up and Sokka helped her. Suki stopped him, and continued by her self.

"I'm not useless Sokka." She laughed. "I mean, I'm barely even showing… if at all."

Suki and Sokka left the room and walked over to the Jasmine Dragon.

The quaint teashop had a few people in it, either playing Pai Sho or discussing business matters.

"Good morning Iroh." Suki said warmly.

"Good morning mother-to-be." Iroh smiled.

"He knows too?" Sokka raised his voice.

"Oh calm down silly." Suki shushed him. Sokka 'hmphed' and crossed his arms again.

"Did you enjoy the tea I brought everyone this morning?" Iroh inquired.

"Yes I did actually. Thank you." Suki said.

"Any time."

"So we were wondering if you could recommend somewhere that was good for breakfast."

"What are you in the mood for?" Iroh had a good place for every kind of food.

"Pastries. I _really_ want a custard tart." Suki sounded excited.

Iroh laughed. "Well I know _all_ about pastries." He patted he round stomach. "If you head right when you leave the courtyard, then you walk for maybe half a mile and turn right again into this tiny little shop in an alleyway. Don't worry, it's safe."

"Thanks!" Suki grabbed Sokka's arm and trotted happily out of the courtyard.

"What's your deal Sokka? You're acting like a 5 year old." Suki said as she pulled on his arm.

"I thought I would be the first to know." Sokka scowled.

"Well I _intended_ to tell you first." Suki laughed. "But that kind of didn't work, because when Katara, Toph, Mai, and I were talking yesterday morning we figured it out. So they were kind of the first to know, but I didn't really want them to tell anyone so everyone else knew before you. Well not really- because they told all the boys at around the same time. If that makes any sense, because I am babbling rather a lot." Suki laughed.

"I get it. I guess I _am _acting like a 5 year old."

"Oh I think we're almost there. That looks like an alley!" Suki ran ahead and Sokka ran to catch up.

It was not in fact an alley but a major roadway with an ostrich-horse running down it. Sokka pulled Suki back and spun her around to face him.

"You've _got_ to be more careful!" Sokka scolded her.

"You should've seen your face!" Suki laughed and smiled at him, while blindly walking back into the street.

She managed to cross safely, as did Sokka and they continued on for about 5 minutes to the pastry shop.

Sokka looked down the alley and turned to Suki.

"This doesn't look safe."

"Iroh said it was perfectly fine, which you would _know_ if you were paying attention when he said it."

Suki trotted down the alley carelessly, skipping slightly. The whole idea of having her own baby to love and play with all day made her very excited.

"Come _on_ Sokka, it's fine. Plus I want my egg custard tart _really really_ badly."

Suki waited until Sokka was at her side before she opened the door to the pastry shop.

A little bell chimed at the top of the door as they entered the dark room. It had some old tables and chairs, with candles on top for light.

The back of the store was cases and cases of pastries. There were all sorts of sweets from every nation.

"Welcome!" The shopkeeper said.

"Hi!" Suki said cheerily.

"What can I help you with?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Well I want an egg custard tart please. Do you want anything Sokka?" Suki asked, turning to her boyfriend who still didn't look pleased.

"I'll have a blueberry muffin please." Sokka said.

"Do you think we should bring something back for Aang, Katara, and Toph?" Suki inquired.

"Aang likes egg custard tarts, Katara likes blueberry muffins too, and Toph wasn't particularly friendly to me this morning so she can fend for herself."

"Ok, so that's two egg custard tarts, two blueberry muffins, and a lychee nut muffin as well."

"All good choices." The shopkeeper beamed.

"How much?" Suki asked, pulling her coin purse out of her pocket.

"3 copper pieces." The shopkeeper replied.

"Sounds reasonable." Suki said as she pulled three copper pieces out of the purse and placed them on the counter.

The shopkeeper had put the food into a bag to take with them back to the apartment.

"Thank you!" Suki said cheerily as she took the bag and walked out of the store.

Sokka followed Suki closely.

"What's your problem?" Suki asked when they got outside.

"Nothing." Sokka retorted.

"Really? Because your face, arms, and attitude say otherwise." Suki said, upset with his behavior.

"I'm still a little mad that everyone knew before me."

"Why does it matter?" Suki asked.

"I don't know, it just does!" Sokka got defensive.

"Ok, well next time I know anything about the baby, I will try to tell you first." Suki kissed him on the cheek.

"Ok, sounds good to me." Sokka finally sounded happy.

"Good!"

The two walked happily back to the apartment hand in hand.

I finished my chapter! Now the story only has a couple more chapters to go until its done. So enjoy it! Lol, I thought I would update before the new year so I could get my goal of 1000 hits for this month. Well, I gotta go to a party so, happy new year!


	22. Chapter 22: 48 hours

Chapter 22:

48 hours

Sokka and Suki returned to the apartment with breakfast for everyone.

"Welcome back!" Katara greeted them cheerily.

"Do I smell egg custard tarts?" Aang asked excitedly leaping up from the armchair and rushing over to Suki.

"Calm down Aang." Suki laughed. "And yes, it is an egg custard tart. Yes you can have one."

Aang fake-collapsed of happiness, and then quickly leapt up to retrieve his tart.

Suki reached into the bag and pulled out a blueberry muffin and handed it to Katara. She gave Aang his tart and Sokka his muffin as well. She set her tart on the table and offered the lychee nut muffin to Toph.

"How did you know I liked lychee nuts?" Toph asked, holding out her hand to receive the muffin.

"I didn't… I just made a guess and figured if you wouldn't eat it, Momo would." Suki laughed as she handed the muffin to Toph.

Toph smiled slightly and took a huge bite out of her muffin.

"Thanks Suki. This is an awesome muffin." Toph said with her mouth full.

"You're welcome." Suki smiled and took a small bite out of her tart.

"So we've got one more night in Ba Sing Se before we head back to the South Pole. What do you want to do today?" Suki suggested.

"I don't know but I really want to go penguin sledding when we get back to the South Pole!" Aang sounded excited.

"Penguin… sledding?" Suki sounded confused.

"Yeah it's where you jump on a penguin and ride at as far as you can. It's really fun!" Aang explained.

"I want to try that!" Suki's eyes opened wide with excitement.

"No." Sokka said protectively.

"Why not?" Suki pouted like a small child.

"It's far too dangerous! You could fall off a cliff and freeze to death or any number of things could happen to our baby!" Sokka was taken aback by the words 'our baby'. Before now he knew it was real, but saying those two little words made it even more of a reality.

Suki sighed loudly and plopped into the armchair that nobody was occupying, and took another bite out of her tart.

"What? I'm just trying to be realistic. We can't have you running around like a crazy person, doing whatever you want because you're now responsible for two people!" Sokka was once again in protective mode.

"I can take care of myself _and _our baby _just_ fine!" Suki got up angrily and walked into their bedroom. Katara followed closely behind.

Suki flopped down on the bed and buried her face in the pillows. Katara shut the door gently and sat down beside her.

"Suki, Sokka's right for once." Katara laughed. "You have to be a little bit more careful about what you do now that you have a whole new person inside you."

Suki spoke into the pillow, and her response was muffled, "I know," Suki rolled onto her back. "I just really hate it when he gets all protective over me. It irritates me to no end. I can fend for myself; I have been for most of my life."

Katara took Suki's hand in a comforting manner.

"I know." She replied warmly. "Sokka is really protective because our dad told him to protect me and the other people in the tribe when he left for the war. He turned those words into his entire life."

"That's pretty messed up." Suki laughed. "It's sweet, but messed up."

"Yeah I know." Katara agreed.

Katara smiled and stood up. She opened the door and wasn't particularly surprised to see Aang and Sokka listening at the door. Katara pushed through the two boys and dragged Aang back to the main room by his ear.

"Ow you're hurting me Katara!" Aang complained.

"You deserved it twinkle toes." Toph laughed.

Suki looked at Sokka and patted the bed next to her. Sokka walked into the room and shut the door behind him.

"I'm sorry." Sokka began, sitting down next to his fiancé.

"No…" Suki stopped him. "I'm the one who should be sorry. You know, you were right. I have been a little bit irresponsible and reckless lately, and I really should start acting more like an adult. It's unfair to you to always have to worry about me, and whether or not I'm being safe or not. I'm responsible for _two_ people now, not just myself, but _our_ baby! I still have to get used to that, and it'll take me a little time, but I'll try my best to be as safe as I can."

Sokka looked stunned. Never before had they had an argument that wasn't actually an argument. Suki waved her hand in front of his face.

"Oh- erm- yeah… sounds good." Sokka laughed nervously. He had been caught off guard by the maturity with which they handled the minor disagreement. Frankly, this gave him confidence that they would be good parents.

Suki looked puzzled at him. "Are you alright Sokka?"

"Yeah, I'm just surprised that we didn't get into a yelling or power struggle is all." Sokka laughed.

Suki didn't say anything; she simply stood up and took Sokka by the hand and dragged him out to the main room.

"Problem solved?" Toph asked, her feet were once again propped up in the table.

"Yup, problem solved." Suki smiled.

Sokka sat down in the armchair and Suki sat on his lap. She sat with her legs over one arm and her back resting on the other, while Sokka had his arms behind his head.

"You know we never answered the question of what we wanted to do today." Suki said.

"There's a whole city to see, and we've seen all the creepy and bad parts of it, why don't we go and look for stuff for the baby?" Katara suggested.

"It's not _your_ baby." Toph teased.

"I know, but I am going to be spending a LOT of time with it." Katara retorted.

"_It_?" Suki was mildly offended.

"Well I don't know if it's a boy or a girl." Katara explained.

"It's a girl." Suki said matter-of-factly.

"How do you know?" Katara asked.

"I don't for sure. I can just feel it though." Suki explained.

"Oh." Katara didn't know what to say.

"Why don't we go get Zuko and Mai and ask them what they want to do?" Aang suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Everyone said simultaneously, and stood up to go drag Zuko and Mai out of their cave.

Yay another chapter finished! The first one of the year! Woot! I hope you liked it! It's a short one, and the next chapter may or may not be the last one. I think I've dragged this one out far enough lol. (:


	23. Chapter 23: Home Again

Chapter 23:

Home Again

The gang wandered over to the Jasmine Dragon where Zuko and Mai were sitting at a table in the corner, sipping on their tea, quietly.

"Hey guys, it's our last day in town so we were thinking we would do something fun. What do you think?" Aang suggested cheerfully.

"Sounds… boring…" Mai said in between sips of tea.

Suki rolled her eyes and put her arm through Sokka's.

"Oh come on. This is the last day that we're all going to be in town together for a long time. Why don't we spend it doing something fun?" Katara backed Aang up.

"So what do you say?" Suki joined in. Any time she could annoy Mai was good.

Mai sighed, "Why not. I guess you are going to bug me about it until I give in, so sure. What did you guys want to drag me and Zuko along to?"

"We were thinking of maybe doing some shopping, but I don't really know." Suki replied.

"I don't really care." Mai said.

"What do you think Zuko? You should be allowed to make _some_ decisions in your own life; you _are _Fire Lord after all." Katara said.

Zuko shrugged carelessly. It didn't matter that he was Fire Lord, Mai wore the pants in the relationship.

"Shall we head down to the middle of the upper ring to look for little souvenirs to take back with us?" Katara suggested.

Collectively, they responded, "Nah…"

"I thought it was a good idea!" Katara defended herself.

"If that's a good idea, then you're not a preachy crybaby who gives overemotional speeches about hope all the time." Toph responded smugly.

"That was one time!"

It was almost midnight when they returned back to the apartment. The whole group was laughing, telling jokes, and being generally noisy.

Iroh had closed the Jasmine Dragon and was sitting peacefully in his flat upstairs.

"Well we have to leave in the morning. Why don't we sleep now, and pack up all our stuff in the morning right before we go?" Katara suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Suki yawned and stretched. Seizing the moment, Sokka scooped her off the ground and carried her back to the apartment. Aang, Toph, and Katara followed while Zuko and Mai split off to go to their room.

Around 15 minutes later, everyone was in their beds fast asleep.

"Time to get up sleepyheads!" Katara's cheery voice called from behind the door in Suki and Sokka's room.

"Hmph." Sokka mumbled into the pillow.

"5 more minutes?" Suki mumbled.

"Nope! Come on guys, it's time to get up! We have to _go_ in less than two hours!" Katara banged on the door, trying to keep the sleepy couple from dozing back off to sleep.

"Alright, alright, leave us alone." Sokka grumbled, getting up and opening the door.

"See? I'm up, and Suki will be up in just a minute. Satisfied?" Sokka sounded mildly irritated with his sister.

"Yes I am satisfied." Katara turned and walked away.

Sokka didn't bother to wash his face or brush his hair. He simply took both his and Suki's bags and placed them on the bed beside his sleeping fiancé.

He shuffled around the room picking up clothes and squashing them into the bags. It didn't matter which one he put them in, they _were_ living together now.

_We sure made a mess of this room._ Sokka thought to himself as he found assorted articles of clothing stashed around the room.

About 15 minutes later, Sokka had finished picking up all the clothes from around the bedroom and bathroom. He stashed their money in the bag and some of their other personal belongings. They had slept in the clothes that they were wearing today, so he didn't worry about leaving outfits out for them to wear.

"Come on Suki, it's time to get up. We need to get going back to the South Pole." Sokka spoke in a soft tone.

"Meh." Suki mumbled into her pillow.

Sokka gave her a gentle shake and she simply rolled over.

"Come on, you can sleep when we're riding on Appa." Sokka tried to convince her to wake up.

"Fine." Suki said grudgingly.

"Great, so I think we basically just have to get a few supplies for the road and then we're going to say our goodbyes, and then we'll leave!" Sokka said, but Suki was too sleepy to care.

Suki sat up and rubbed her eyes. Sokka grabbed their two bags and carried them out to Appa.

A few moments later he had returned to find Suki asleep again.

"Adorable." Sokka said half sarcastically. He walked over to Suki and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder gently.

He walked out of the room which was almost empty except for the bed and dresser, closing the door behind him. He did one last check that they didn't forget anything, and walked out of the apartment. Suki was still asleep on his shoulder.

"So are you guys almost ready?" Sokka asked Katara.

"We've been ready for half an hour. We have several days worth of food as well. Basically, we just have to say goodbye to everybody and thank Iroh for his kind hospitality." Katara said.

"Is she dead?" Aang teased Sokka, about the lump of a Suki that was hanging lifeless off his shoulder.

He tickled her in the side, to which she promptly screamed and squirmed.

"Nope!" Sokka laughed.

"Good." Aang smiled and laughed at Suki, who was now standing.

"Where's Toph?" Suki asked.

"She said she's going to leave later today, but she's coming to say goodbye in a few minutes." Katara responded.

"Ah." Suki said, yawning.

Mai and Zuko appeared outside the Jasmine Dragon with their bags ready to go. Iroh followed behind them.

Toph came outside to the courtyard. Appa was ready to go, and starting to get restless.

"I guess we'll see each other soon?" Katara asked at Zuko, Mai, Iroh, and Toph.

"How about we get together again when the baby is born?" Sokka suggested.

"Sure." Zuko shrugged.

"I guess this is goodbye." Katara smiled. Tears welled up in her eyes. She was sad to go back to the South Pole with only half of her friends.

"Bye guys, see you soon!" They all said simultaneously. And with that, Aang, Suki , Sokka, and Katara were off to the South Pole.

That's it! That is the end of the story! Yay, I have finally finished something! XD I hope you guys really liked it and will read the sequel, which I intend to write after I get a different fanfiction under way. If you were wondering about it, it's about the hunt for Zuko's mom. It's dramatic and dark. Much different than this fluffy drabble. I had a lot of fun writing this story, and 40000 words later, it's finally finished! I may wind up editing this chapter to expand it out. Sorry for all the loose ends. They *will* be tied up in the next story. So you will just have to read it to find out! Since this is the last chapter, I hope that everyone that reads it will review it! I love getting reviews lol. Whenever I get the email I always get super excited! Well happy reading to you, and writing if you do that too. Thanks again for reading The Proposal!


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